All is fair in love and war
by Mesopotamia
Summary: Romeo-Juliet like (sorta). Trying not to make it too generic or wierd (if you know my writing ;) )Two households in conflict....etc.etc. Just read it! disclaimer: R for a reason ;) LegolasOC
1. The beginning

Hello, yes I know. How dare I start ANOTHER story when I haven't even finished my other two? But I have been having little inspiration and have been writing the chapters for my other stories little by little so they ARE getting done, just slowly. I just had this idea and I had to write it down. Also, I hope this hasn't been done before and if it has, I'm sorry and you can give me a good spanking ;) 

  


I'm trying to make this a bit Romeo and Juliet-like but I dunno if I'm succeeding. 

  


Disclaimer: blah blah blah..you know the drill

  


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King Thranduil was loved by many throughout his kingdom of Mirkwood. Several centuries after the war of the ring, Middle Earth was at peace still, but with minor squabbles. Of course, Thranduil was loved by many, but not all. There was always constant bickering, challenges, and sometimes even physical fights between the king's own youngsters ( and sometimes even the king himself) and the noble family, the Goldenlights. The Goldenlights were quite wealthy and lived very close to the palace in a large stone home, carved by Ondodain Goldenlight himself back in the dark days. It was a sturdy enormous structure and when built, was used as a stronghold against orc/uruk-hai/etc attacks. But in the present day, it was a home to a rather large elven family and stood as tall and beautiful as the day it was built. 

  


"Try and catch me!" laughed Rilma as she ran through the forest. She was a young and sturdy elf child and she ran further and further into the forest and away from her brothers and sister. 

  


Well, humble reader, what is there to say about the Goldenlights? The Goldenlights had many, many children, an uncommon thing for Mirkwood elves to have so many, but a rumor was heard that there was a human somewhere in their line and perhaps that would explain their mass reproduction. There were ten boys and two girls. The boys, Ritu, Nitu, Alden, Dinur, Tyl, Herund, Geldir, Sevan, Celegen, and little Bemno, all wore their hair long, blond and pulled back by bow strings. Their eyes were merry and blue and they all seemed almost identical in almost every way except height (serious fluctuations). 

  


The girls however were slightly different from the boys (in more ways than the obvious). Rilma, for example, was very small, even for an elf child, and had very small features. She was raven-haired like her great-grandmother, but had her father's bright blue eyes. Or was it her mother's? No one was really sure considering their parents had pretty much the same features even if they came from two different families. 

  


And then there was Eden. Quiet, reserved, overlooked, boring Eden. She had plain features to match her plain clothes and her plain way of walking, talking, singing (well she couldn't really sing, but she tried and that earned her quite a few knocks on the head), and dancing. She had her grandfather's thin copper hair and her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother's (most likely a human) greenish-blue eyes. She wore her hair back in a long braid and always kept her spectacles on the very edge of her nose. Of course, they had no lenses and she didn't really need them, but she liked the way they looked on her and she especially enjoyed pulling them up when they slid down her nose. Ahh, life's simple pleasures......

  


Now, readers, lets switch our gaze to the other side of the forest where three elf lads walk under the gentle trees of Mirkwood. They are the sons of King Thranduil and they walk quietly through the wood. Suddenly they heard a great uproar. The eldest, Legolas, looked around him and was suddenly pushed to the ground as an elf child collided with him. Legolas quickly got up and strung an arrow. In fact, both his brothers did the same and they stood in silence pointing sharp arrows at the girl who sat, all color lost from her face, on the forest floor. At that moment, her siblings burst into the scene. They looked from the girl to the three and then quickly strung their own arrows. 

  


"Well, this is quite pathetic of you," scowled Ritu, "I cannot believe that you would sink so low as to threaten a child. Lower your weapons at once!"

  


"And I cannot believe that your parents would be so careless as to let her run around the forest alone," one of the King's sons bit back.

  


"She was with us," at this point, no one had lowered their weapons. Eden crept towards Rilma as her brother's quarreled with the King's sons. Suddenly, one of them pointed an arrow towards her. She stopped dead in her tracks.

  


"Point your arrow away from my sister!" yelled Hergund.

  


"Not until you lower your weapons!" the King's youngest son growled.

  


"_You _lower _your_ weapons!" Ritu, Nitu, and Alden screamed in response.

  


Suddenly the eldest son of Thranduil lowered his weapon and smiled.

  


"Brothers, why are we even wasting our time with them?" he said, "They are beneath us and will always be nothing but scum. I think the first thing I'll do when I become king is to castrate their father so he will stop filling our forest with more dirt than there is needed!" Suddenly the forest was in an uproar again as the boys fought each other. Eden managed to grab Rilma and pull her away. They ran until they heard no more curses and screams. 

  


"Well Rilma?" Eden looked at the girl sternly, her hands on her hips, "What have you to say for yourself?"

  


"That was fun!" Rilma beamed, but her smile faded as she saw the expression on Eden's face.

  


"Do you know what kind of trouble we could get father in?" Eden said through gritted teeth. "It's already known we don't like or support the king so why should we make it even more obvious? This will only cause more problems for father!" Rilma looked down at the ground and whispered, "I'm sorry." Eden sighed.

  


"No you're not," she said, picking the girl up and setting her in her lap, "This is the third time this week." And with that, both girls burst into uncontrollable laughter.

  
  
  
  
  



	2. meeting

Agent Blue: I have no idea where you read that she had black hair. Could you tell me the exact line??? Maybe you misread it, hun, but if you didn't and I'm just blind, then I'm embarrassed and sorry.

  


To all wondering about the Choose your own adventure fic, read my info. 

  
  


Sorry I haven't updated in a while!! I've just been busy. 

  
  


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"There is to be a banquet in two days," said Mithnaial Goldenlight over dinner that night. "I want all of you to be on your best behavior and please, no more squabbles with Thranduil's sons. Their father is quite a handful to deal with, himself. " 

  


"But they are the ones that always start it,! "protested Nitu and the rest of them made noises of agreement. 

  


"Well, then you will be the ones to end it," their mother said. "I am being serious. Do not shame our family anymore." And with those words, all was quiet. 

  


Their father, at the moment, was in his study and everyone knew that it was his time to be alone and that no one was to disturb him for any reason, lest they be severally punished. He was an extremely serious being, almost too serious for an elf with 12 children, but he was kind and gentle when he needed to be, cruel and strict when the children needed punishment, and also made an amazing batch of fruit cakes when the occasion called for it.

  


After dinner, the servants cleaned up and the children were sent off to bed. Of course, that did not mean that the children were asleep like they should have been. They usually snuck into each others rooms and played games or talked until they became sleepy, but they always knew to be extra quiet and have a "guard" (usually Bemno) at the stairs to watch out for their father or mother, for the punishment for being out late was quite harsh as they had learned the night that Bemno fell asleep......

  


But tonight, every one of the Goldenlight children was tired and sleepy and went to bed. Everyone, except Eden, that is. Tonight, she had a sudden urge to be walk the stars. Eden did not know why exactly, but every once in a while, it was as if they spoke to her and drew her outside, but she had always gone with her parents. She had never been in the forest alone at night so she decided that she would take her horse, Summo. She wrapped herself in a cloak and slipped out of her window and down to the stables. The servants looked uneasily at her, but she assured them she would be back safe and sound. 

  


Mounting Summo, she rode quickly and silently into the dark of the forest. 

  


Now, gentle reader, lets take a moment to study Eden's thought process. She is an elf, and although she is quite old compared to most humans, she is still but a teenager and her thoughts run along these lines: I am old enough and I am mature and nothing can hurt me just as long as I am careful which I know I will be, so there! One would think that this kind of thinking only applies to teenaged humans, but alas! The teenage mind is universal and stretches to all lands and to all time periods. 

  


With that said, let us return to Eden and Summo who are now much deeper into the forest. 'Now where is a place in this blasted forest where the trees will let me see the stars,' she thought, but her thought process was cut off as she heard someone yell "Hey you! Stop!" She turned to see who it was and was suddenly thrown from her horse. She hit the ground hard and groaned as she got to her feet and brushed herself off. She looked up to see her horse......with someone else on it. Well, actually, she could only see the outline of someone since it was very dark.

  


"Get thee off my horse, fiend!" she said, angrily. The only reply was laughter. She wrapped her cloak closer around her, only to have the hood yanked down by some anonymous hand. She swung around to face whoever it was, but she only turned to see more darkness. 

  


"Ahhhh, so it is one of the Goldenlight children," a voice mocked.

  


"How can you see me?" she asked, in a commanding voice, looking around wildly. "What sort of sorcery is this?" 

  


More laughter.

  


"Why don't you all face me like true elves instead of hiding like cowardly men?" she commanded, the sound of her brave ancestors in her voice. There was no laughter this time.

  


Suddenly, her glasses were taken from the edge of her nose and a tall presence was standing in front of her. 

  


"Give those back!" Eden cried.

  


"Say that again, wench," the elf growled.

  


"Ahhhhh, so it is one of the King's children," she said, mockingly. "Pardon me, _my lord_, I did not know that the kingdom has come to be so poor that you have to steal horses from your _most humble _subjects." She could almost feel the anger radiating from the elf.

  


"I know who you are, _Eben _("Eden!" she corrected)," the elf snarled, "Eden, what a peasant-like name, anyway, you better not be at the banquet in two days."

  


"And what if I am?" asked Eden, sounding cheerful.

  


"You are going to wish you did not go," he said, his voice somber and angry.

  


"Ohhhhhh, I'm simply shaking with fear," she smiled, "Really, I am." She pushed past him and mounted her horse and rode off back towards her house.

  


'Bastards,' she thought, 'I really wanted to walk under the stars tonight!'

  


But she was very proud of herself for what she did and said back there. She had never stood up to anyone in her entire life. She smiled for her deed.

  


But her smile quickly faded as she rode into the stable, only to see the angry faces of her parents, both in their nightwear, both pale with anger and worry.

  


"Explain yourself!" her mother demanded. The servants took the horse and left Eden alone with her parents. 

  


"I wanted to walk under the stars," Eden said quietly.

  


"Wanted to walk under the stars!" her mother exclaimed, "Do you know how dangerous the forest is at night? What were you thinking!" Her mother went on and on, screaming at her, but Eden was not worried about her mother. It was her father whom she feared above all else and she suddenly wished that she was back in the forest. He glared down at Eden and made her feel very small. When her mother was finished with her lecture, she dared not look at her father.

  


"Eden, I would like you to come to my study in the morning," her father said coldly, "For now, go to your room."

  


And so Eden lay awake all night, shaking with fear. Her father's punishments went from cleaning the whole house to full out beatings. When Bemno was caught, he was whipped, and not for a short time either. Dothlir, her father, was a merciless being.

  


But wait......

  


Eden suddenly sat up. 'How exactly did they find out? I know for a fact that mother and father were asleep before I left,' she thought. 'The king's sons! It must have been them!' Her anger soared and she threw a pillow across the room and crossed her arms across her chest. 

  


She decided she would get dressed in the ugliest thing she owned, a drab brown dress that was too large for her. She wasn't going to let him ruin her nice dresses if she was to be whipped. She got dressed and walked downstairs, slowly. She knocked softly on the door of her father's study.

  


"Come in, Eden" his cold voice said from the other side of the door. Eden opened the door and walked inside, closing the door behind her.

  


"I'll spare you the lecture," he said, putting down the book in his hand, "That was your mother's job." Eden smiled a little.

  


"My job is to oversee your punishment," he continued. "I guarantee you it will not be pleasant." Eden swallowed hard.

  


"But," he said, " I have never had to punish you before. This is your first time disobeying orders so I will keep that in mind. Your punishment will be to do all the servants work for today. I suggest you get a good start. I have already informed Alna of your punishment and you should report to her as soon as possible."

  


"Thank you father," Eden curtseyed and turned around to leave.

  


"Eden, I am not finished and I have not dismissed you!" Her father growled angrily. Eden turned around, her face a slight pink with embarrassment..... and fear. 

  


"I need you to transport some documents to the palace," he said, "You will stop for nothing and I will expect you home before dark. Now, you are dismissed." He turned away from her and once again, she curtseyed and walked out the door and to the servant quarters.

  


Alna smiled as the girl cautiously approached her.

  


"Got in a bit of trouble did we?" Alna said. Eden blushed slightly and nodded. 

  


"Well, here is what I want you to do......," and so she went on to explain the tasks that were to be performed, how they were to be performed, the amount of time spent on each task, and of course, the equipment that was to be used. Eden noted this information and was soon ready to start her labor. 

  


She finished in the afternoon. The sun was still bright in the sky but the day was starting to end when she remembered the documents. Grabbing the documents and her horse she rode towards the palace. When she got to the gates, she was stopped.....by the king's sons and the guards.

  


"Well, well, well, is that a servant from the Goldenlight household?" one of the princes laughed.

  


"No, I believe it's one of their many children," said his brother. "Look at her clothes, Legolas! It seems her parents are running out of money!" She looked down at herself. 'Oh no!' she silently screamed. 'I forgot to change!'

  


But the one named Legolas, the oldest, the one who fought in the war of the ring, merely looked up at her, studying her. Then he finally said, "If you enjoy wearing clothes like that, I suggest you come to see our servants. They are wearing the latest fashions, according to you, that is." Everyone laughed. 

  


"Let me pass," she commanded, angrily. "I need to give something to the king."

  


"How dare you talk like that to the sons of the king!" one of the guards spat. 

  


"I will shower the _princes _with respect just as soon as they learn to mind their manners, now if you'll excuse me, I really must be getting-," but she was interrupted. 

  


"Alright, alright, I'll let you pass, but on one condition," said another one of the guards, "Leave your horse out here." Eden held her breath for a second and decided not to argue. Without a word, she jumped off and the guard opened the gate for her. She walked in and walked into the palace and gave the documents to the king, who looked down upon her. 

  


After that, she walked back to the gate and pushed and pulled at the door only to discover it locked. She started to panic. Her father told her to be home before dark and the sun was starting to set. She pounded on the gate, but no one answered. Tears welled up in her eyes as she slumped against the door. If she did not get home in time, she would be in for another punishment and the next probably more severe than the previous. 

  


The place seemed empty as she stood there alone and when she thought the situation couldn't get any worse, it started raining. Now, Eden usually loved the rain, but it could not soothe her now as she sat against the gate. The rain was hard and she was soaked in a few moments. She tried pounding against the gate more, but still no answer came. She let out a soft sob and turned around only to walk into Legolas. 

  


"Having trouble opening the gate?" he said coldly. Eden nodded. 

  


"Have you ever tried something called knocking?" he glared and knocked on the gate which opened almost at the touch of his hand. "It can prove to be very helpful." The other two princes and the guards were standing under a huge tree, grinning at her. 

  


" I did knock," Eden muttered, "And no one answered." She suddenly realized that her horse was nowhere to be found. 

  


"Where is my horse?" she asked, through gritted teeth. 

  


"He got tired of waiting for you so he left," one of the guards said and everyone else laughed. Pushing her wet hair, out of her face, she started to walk into the forest. 

  


"Where are you going?" asked one of the younger princes.

  


"Home," she answered as she walked farther and farther. 

  


"You are going to walk?" he laughed. Eden turned around, tears of anger and frustration in her eyes. 

  


"Well, seeing as I don't have my horse, there is nothing I could do but walk," she answered in a quivering voice.

  


After 100 more feet of walking, she sensed another presence near her. She turned to the around and saw that no one was there. Holding herself, she kept walking, and looked up past the tree tops. 

  


The sun was setting. 

"Do you even know where you're going?" a familiar voice said. Eden turned around. 

  


No one.

  


"Where are you?" she asked. 

  


"Turn around, oh watchful one," he said, sarcastically. "Maybe you really did need those glasses." She turned around to face him. He was much taller than her and she glared up at him. He, like her father, made her feel very small. She hated him for it...and yet......

  


"My prince," she said, trying to sound as humble as possible, "Kindly get out of my way so I can go home."

  


"It'll take you hours," he said," Here, have a horse." Legolas whistled and to her surprise, Summo trotted towards her. 

  


"How did you......,"Eden was shocked, "How..why..wait....huh?"

  


"Have a safe trip and don't fall off," he said and then climbed back up into the trees and disappeared. She sighed and mounted Summo and began to ride back home. 'Why was he being so nice to me?' she wondered.

  


'Wait a moment!' she thought, 'Why am I even thinking about him! Stop it, Eden, stop it! King's oldest son and heir to the throne equals bad..... but extremely handsome! Ewww now you sound like an orc! Just stop thinking!' 

  


But she couldn't and no matter how much she tried, his face appeared in her mind. She was disgusted with herself. The sun was just about to set when she rode into the stable. She walked into the house and went to her room where she had the servants prepare a bath. She then dressed in her most comfortable outfit and went to help the servants with dinner. 

  


Of course, she never was thinking about what she was doing. She had something (or someone) on her mind. 

  



	3. out into the night

The night of the banquet came on quickly and as a special surprise for their children, Mithnaial and Dothlir bought new dress clothes for all of them. 

  


Eden spun around in her new green dress in front of the mirror in her room. Her dress fit her perfectly and accented her figure. The sleeves were long, the dress was long, and it left much of her neck area exposed. She did not like that it exposed her so, but it was a new dress and she was quite happy with it. This was the first time ever that she would walk out of the house with a fully washed face and her long copper hair let out across her back. Getting jealous? Don't be, for the dress is making Eden's skin itch. 

  


"Mother!" she called, "Mother! I think I'm chafing!" Her mother walked into the room.

  


"Nonsense, you look beautiful," her mother smirked. 

  


"This dress," Eden muttered, "I think I'm allergic to the fabric."

  


"Don't be ridiculous," her mother scoffed, "This is the finest fabric in Mirkwood." Eden whimpered and scratched her leg ravenously. 

  


"Stop it!" her mother glowered, "You'll ruin your dress, silly girl." Her mother walked out and called her other brothers and sisters to hurry up. Soon, they were on their horses and riding swiftly to the palace. 

  


When they arrived, their horses were put into the stable and they went to the banquet hall, which was lavishly decorated with golden green leaves and ribbons. 

  


But Eden did not wish to linger. She had a bit to eat and then walked out into the courtyard to sit in the garden. She looked up at the stars and smiled and then scratched at her leg again. She preferred it this way, to be alone. She didn't need anyone because no one needed her. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She felt so detached. Reader, did you truly think that teenaged angst only applied to humans? 

  


"Well, well, look what we have here," someone snarled nearby, "It's a Goldenlight, all alone. Not very smart at all."

  


"Leave me be," she said, not turning her eyes to the aggressor. "I do not wish to be bothered so please go and bother the people that actually want to be here."

  


Suddenly she was pulled up and pushed into somebody else and then that person pushed her to the ground. She looked up and saw two of the younger princes and some boys from another noble family. 

  


"Who do you think you're talking to?"one of the princes barked. "You can't order me around! I am a prince and you...you are dirt and on the ground is where you belong."

  


Eden glared and tried to get up, but they kept pushing her down. Finally, annoyed, she elbowed one of the boys in the groin and pushed him away but was yanked back by the hair and punched and kicked (but she did fight back a bit) until she cried out. They stopped and looked down at her. She lay on the ground, cowering and crying softly. Then she felt their presence disappear swiftly.

  


She lay like that for what seemed like hours until she felt a strong hand pull her up. She opened her eyes and expected to see one of her siblings, but instead saw a tall, towering figure with a smirk on his face. 

  


Legolas. 

  


He lifted her up gently, and made sure she could stand on her own. Then they just stood there staring at each other and she felt his fingertips brushing the wisps of hair out her face. "W-what are you doing?" she stammered.

  


"Checking to see if they did anything to your face," he said, moving her head to one side and inspecting it. "I don't want my brothers to be blamed for something that was probably your fault."

  


"My fault!?" cried Eden, pulling herself away. "I was sitting here, minding my own business, when they came and pushed me to the ground and wouldn't let me get up."

  


"From what I saw, you seemed to be fighting back," he said, pulling her closer to him and inspecting the other side of her face.

  


"Well of course I was, you didn't really expect me to just sit there and take it, did you?"she asked.

  


"I suppose not, but you did provoke them," Legolas said, his voice sounding in a very matter-of-fact tone. "I saw that little elbowing action you did there. Did you really expect to get away with it?"

  


"How dare you!?" she said, angrily with eyes now filling with tears of anger and frustration. She pushed herself away from him. 

  


"I'm not done," he growled and grabbed her, pulling her close again, but she tore away again.

  


"You know, I would expect so much more from a future king," she said quietly, angry tears sliding down her cheeks, and then walked away from him. 

  


She walked to the stable, scratching her leg, and told the servants to tell her family she was leaving. They did so and she got Summo and rode away into the night. She did not care what was in the forest at this late hour, she just wanted to be home. When she got to the house, she let the servants put the horse back and she walked into the house and up the stairs to her room. Slipping out of her dress and leaving it on the floor, she put on her night gown and went to bed. 

  


But she could not sleep. One thought, one person still lingered in her mind. 

  
  


Legolas.

  


How it felt to be near him, to smell him, to feel his warmth, to feel his fingertips over her skin, but his words were like poison arrows, hurtful, cold. 

  


'But he is quite han-,' she thought, but then suddenly sat up in bed. 'Oh my, was I just about to say Legolas was handsome?' 

  


'Well, he is,' a small voice in her head said. 

  


'What does that even matter?' she thought, falling backwards onto her pillow, 'He has the attitude of a civilized orc, if there is such a thing. Maybe he just got that attitude from his Dwarf friend.'

  


"But what does it matter?" she sighed and closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep.


	4. chastise

Stretching on the bed, Eden opened her eyes to a sun-filled room. 'Sun filled....sun fillled...,' she thought warmly as she rolled over.

  


"SUN FILLED?!" she suddenly sat up. She remembered that her family was supposed to go visit their aunt who lived in southern Mirkwood. 'Surely, they would not have left without me,' she thought. Quickly stumbling out of bed (damn human genetics), she got dressed and ran to each room, finding them empty. 'That's alright,' she thought, 'They are probably downstairs at breakfast.'

  


Running downstairs, she ran into the dining room. "Hello?" she called. 

  


The house was completely silent and empty. She saw a letter on the table and slowly approached it, fearing its contents.

  


Slowly sitting down and opening it, she read out loud 

  


"Eden, 

  


Since you have forgotten where your priorities lie, we have decided that it is only fair to leave you at home. Alna and the rest are with us. There is plenty of food in the cellar. Your father and I hope that you will learn your lesson so that next time, you will wake up when you are told to wake up."

  


The letter went on to chastise her, but she did not wish to read anymore and put the letter down. The house was silent, something she was not used to with her many siblings. Packing herself a lunch (which she found was harder than it looked and wondered how the servants did it so fast), she went into the stables and mounted Summo. She let her hair loose, something her father warned her against when she went riding, but she did not care. He was miles away and would never know. 

  


Mirkwood was a dark place in general, but Eden knew where the most beautiful and best places were. She rode west to the river and set herself on the spot that seemed most appealing and ate lunch there. The wood was beautiful and leaves rained down gently onto the ground. The water in the river was a steady current and was clear blue, almost enchanting to watch. 

  


'So peaceful,' she thought, ' so this is what it's like to be an only child, although...' But her thoughts were interrupted as a figure stepped in front of her. 

  


"Great," she muttered, "This is exactly what I need right now." Stuffing the rest of her bread into her mouth, she looked up at the figure and her heart sank. 

  


"What are you doing here?" Legolas asked.

  


"Oh," she said and then swallowed her bread, "I did not know that this part of the forest was forbidden, highness."

  


"Do you know what kind of danger you are in?" he said, glaring down at her. His icy blue eyes piercing through her. Ouch.

  


"Have you ever considered the fact that we are always facing danger?" she asked in a matter-of-fact way. "I mean, you could just as easily be shot by an arrow or stabbed if you were in your palace."

  


"Dark things lurk in this forest that are not afraid of coming into the light," his voice getting angrier and lower.

  


"Like you?" she looked up and took a bite of another piece of bread. 

  


"Leave now," he warned.

  


"Mo," she said. Well she meant to say "no" but her mouth was full of bread. He kept looking down at her, unimpressed. 

  


"Such human manners you have," he said.

  


"Such ORC-like manner YOU have........highness," she returned his glare.

  


"I am warning you one more time," he said, "leave."

  


"Well, alright I think I'll....no," she said and smiled. "You just want me to leave because you like this spot."

  


"Lady, I am telling you to get on your horse and ride away this instant," he said, through gritted teeth.

  


"Or what?" she stared up at him with a bored expression. But then she decided that she really should not have asked that when his arms grabbed her around the waist and seated her on Summo.

  


"That was pathetic," she glared, "You're just as bad as your brothers, probably worse. And to think, you, our future king..." She gave him one last glare and willed Summo to go, but he did not move. 'What the hell....,' she thought and she nudged him a bit. 'I must seem like such an idiot after that little speech.' 

  


"Come on Summo," she said angrily, but then noticed that Legolas was holding the reins now and his look was deadly. 

  


"We shall talk about this," he said in a tone that made Eden uneasy. It was that feeling when you know you have made someone really mad and that was not your intention.

  


"So NOW I have to stay," Eden rolls her eyes. "Such games you play, highness. I wonder if...Hey!!"

  


She did not have time to say her smart-ass comment as she was pulled down from her horse and this time, it actually hurt. 

  


"There you go, doing it again," she said. 'So I have nothing to do with this whole day,' she thought, 'How about playing how much can I anger Legolas....' 

  


He pushed her onto the same place that she sat before and he sat in front of her, bow and quiver on his back, a sword on his waist. He actually looked beautiful to her. His eyes fierce and his hair.....such hair....with all the oils in Mirkwood and Rivendell combined, one could never obtain that hair. 

  


'I wonder what he-' she started, but she was interrupted by his voice. It was deep, husky, gentle, strong, cold, warm, sensual, and all those good things. 

  


"Eden," his fingers snapped in front of her face, "Are you paying attention?"

  


"Yes," she lied.

  


"What did I just say?" he leaned back a bit.

  


"You said....umm....you said....that I should not be here?"she said.

  


"Yes that was already established," he said, bored, "I guess you were not, so I will repeat myself. I said that you are a rude little wench with a big mouth and rather rude demeanor for a lady."

  


"Oh, is that what you said?" she asked, sarcastically. "Because for a moment there you had me fooled that you had something important to say. Can I go now?"

  


"No," he said, calmly, "You also have no respect for authority, whether it be your own parents or not, and that you need proper discipline, something that your parents cannot seem to provide."

  


"Oh discpline, punishments, discipline," she said in a dreamy voice, " It's all the same to me. To think that those things could ever change me is ignorant indeed."

  


"You're family left you behind," he said, quietly. She wanted to yell at him, but she had no proof that he was mocking her. He was looking at her, a blank expression. And she could not, despite her best efforts, figure out what he was thinking.

  


"Yes," Eden replied quickly, "So?" She shifted uncomfortably. 'What the hell?' she thought, 'I have better things to do than be analyzed and studied like some animal. Who does he think he is anyway? So what if he is the Prince of Mirkwood? He could be the bloody Dark Lord for all I care, but he does NOT have the right to be doing this.' 

  


But despite Eden's spiteful thinking, she said nothing and continued to avoid his eyes. 

  
  


"Everyone in Mirkwood knows about it," Legolas said, in a calm manner, "Does it not embarrass you to be punished so?"

  


Eden's head shot up. "No," she said, almost too softly. Legolas leaned back, a smile playing on his face. 

  


She then asked, "Everyone?" 

  


"Everyone who I have encountered," he said, "You're the talk of the palace."

  


"Well I don't care," she said, sitting up, "And I think it's pathetic that Mirkwood has nothing else to talk about than my punishment."

  


"But even you have to admit it is embarrassing," he said, still smiling. "Perhaps not to you, but to your parents and family members. You are seen as a trouble maker now and your parents are thus blamed for raising you as such. Pity that you are selfish and do not care. "

  


'I want to cut that smile off his face ,' she thought angrily. 

  


"You know nothing," she growled, "My parents are strict and they are not embarrassed of me."

  


"Come now, do you really think the only reason why they did not take you is because you did not wake up?" Legolas asked.

  


"I am not that bad!" she cried, "You do not even know me and anyway I do not see how this is any of your business." She was really getting sick of this. "I want to leave." And with that, she stood up. She glared down at him, feeling very tall and powerful, until he stood up and towered over her. 

  


"We are not done," he said, suddenly angry, "There is still that matter of you being disrespectful to those who are above you in rank." 

  


"But it is you who is-," but she was interrupted.

  


"Enough," he said, but not in an angry way, surprisingly, "I will accompany you home. It is not safe here." 'And yet we've been sitting here talking as if we were in Mirkwood palace.....,' thought Eden.

  


And so they rode back to the Goldenlight home in silence. When they got there, she dismounted Summo and turned to the Prince who had dismounted as well.

  


"Well, thank you for being my chaperone, Prince Legolas," said Eden, curtsying and then turned to walk back inside the house. She was at the door, when she noticed that he was still following her. She turned to face him. He walked up to her and stood very close to her. She tried stepping back, but was pressed against the door and he had moved with her.

  
  


He leaned close to her and asked ever so gently into her ear, "Will you be alright?" His warm breath blew into her ear and she shivered slightly. 

  


'Wake up, idiot!!' her conscience screamed and so she did.

  


"Yes," she breathed, "thank you." His warm radiated to her body and she had to resist the urge to move her face so his lips that were near her ear would meet her lips. But it was a problem no longer when he moved away from her and without looking back, walked back to the stables.

  


Eden closed her eyes, unlocked the door, and ran inside.

  


"What just happened?" she said aloud, leaning against the closed door.

  


**************************************************************

A/N: They won't like each other at first but will then like each other later on ..etc. etc. blah blah

Also, it may be kind of boring at first but the action will be later on ;)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. fool of a goldenlight

"To think, to love," she whispered, "to love.... oh blast it!" She sat up in bed. The moon shone bright through her open windows and a soft breeze strummed her skin. 

  


"I have a lifetime to feel these emotions and I truly wonder when I will start feeling them," she sighed.

  


'But what about Legolas?' a voice in her head teased.

  


'Legolas is a Prince and I am from a rival noble family,' she answered herself, 'It's politics, pure and simple. He will wed someone who supports him and his family and I will wed......someone. And also, I'm NOT in love with Legolas. I barely know him!' 

  


She scoffed at the idea.

  


'What about the way he felt so close....what about how he almost kissed you?' the voice taunted once more.

  


'Almost kissed me?!' exclaimed Eden, 'Almost kissed my ear is more like it.'

  


'That's quite sensual too,'it answered.

  


"Oh shut up," muttered Eden to herself. She was restless. Tossing and turning, she rolled from side to side, her night gown riding up until she had to lift herself off the bed and pull it back down. 

  


Oh the misery of boredom and eternity...if only she had her glasses. On the nose, off the nose, on the nose, off the nose and it would last for quite a long time. She felt as if her glasses were her only source of entertainment and now that they were gone, there was nothing to do. 

  


'River,' she was beckoned by the curiosity of her human side. No one was allowed to swim there at night and no one was allowed to swim there alone in the day. (Author's note: what is it with me and putting rivers and water in my stories??) Oh, if her father had seen her then, she would have been punished severely, but he was not and so Eden ran downstairs and out into the night. 

  


Summo was wide awake and alert when she came into the stable and she smiled at him mischievously as she told him her plans. 

  


:"We will go to the river, yes?" she giggled, "I mean, everyone is always telling me, "there are dangerous things out in the forest, Eden" or "you're going to get yourself killed, Eden" or "don't ride in the middle of the night in a dark forest, Eden" but I have never seen anything dangerous in this wood. Ever and I have lived here all my life." And so these were the thoughts of Eden Goldenlight, true and simple and so my gentle reader, the stupidity of young animals (for we are all animals) should never cease to amaze you.

  


And so riding Summo towards the river, she rode hard and fast, just in case all the people that warned her were right, but when she arrived beside the river, she got a terrible feeling.

  


"We should not have come here," she whispered to Summo. The horse seemed to be looking back at her with a look on his face that seemed to say "no shit."

  


Something made a terrifying screech behind her and she twisted Summo around to face.....well whatever it was it looked scary and not particularly friendly. She had never seen or heard anything about this creature in her life. Her breath caught in her throat as the thing gave out another scream that made her blood run cold and her face turn a startling white. It reared on its back paws, gnashing its teeth and fixating its fierce eyes on her. Its tongue lolled inside its mouth as it sniffed at her scent. It would look like a wolf except for the head which looked similar to that of a rodent. 

  


"Go," whispered Eden, and Summo took off into the forest. She could hear the animal behind, snapping at Summo's legs and making terrible noises which frightened her so. She urged Summo on faster, but the creature did not slow its pace. 

  


'We need to go somewhere for safety,' she thought, 'We'll never outrun him.' 

  


_Home_

  


'Home!?' she cursed herself, 'Idiot, you know you can't lead it back home and it will still be after you. That won't solve anything!'

  


_The house of Thranduil........_

  


"No," she said out loud. 'No, I cannot,' she thought bitterly. 

  


'It is the only place that could save you, not another living creature for miles,' a voice rationalized, 'Pride taking you away again, is it?' 

  


'I am being chased by....by...a really scary thing,' she thought, 'Pride should be of my least concern.' And so she pulled Summo forward and quickly changed course and rode north towards the palace, the creature still close behind. 

  


'How could my life get any worse?' she thought, sadly. She was answered with a splatter of water on her face. It had started to rain. 'You had to ask, didn't you?' 

  


'Oh the embarrassment that I will face when I come to the palace,' she thought. 

  


_Better to be embarrassed than dead._

  


'That's for sure,' her thoughts however were over the span of seconds, you see, for when you are being chased by a frightening animal there is no real time to converse with yourself and Eden was mostly worried about how she and her horse were going to get out of this little predicament.

  


An hour passed and Summo never ceased to stop running at his pace. Unfortunately, neither did the beast that followed. The palace gates were now in view and Eden urged Summo faster. As she was getting closer and closer, she called for help and instantly heard the sound of arrows, but she did not stop Summo until she was inside the gates and the creature was no longer behind her. A drop of rain dripped down her nose and water ran off her finger tips. She sat on Summo in the rain for what seemed like hours, staring straight ahead at nothing.. 

  


No matter how hard Eden tried to act and be tough, she could not and she thanked the Valar for the rain which washed away her tears. She had never been so frightened in her entire life and her heart beat with intensity as she tried to calm herself down, her hands still clutching the reins ever so lightly. 

  


She did not heard as the guard approached her and spoke to her. "My lady?" he said, "My lady, are you alright?" But she did not answer. Her thoughts were frozen and so were her movements and she did not notice when they took her off the horse and brought her inside the barrack's. 

  


"Is she alright?" someone asked. "What happened?"

  


Everything was tuned out.

  


"She's gone into shock," one of the elves cried. 

  
  


********************************************************

  


Oh drama drama...I didn't mean to make this so moody. You will find that I will sometimes make fun of Eden, but that's because she can be an idiot sometimes (like now).

  


I just saw ROTK and let me just say: nothing compares to Tolkien's books.


	6. at the palace

'Eden.....,'a voice whispered.

  


'Alright that's it!' thought Eden angrily.

  


'What?' the voice asked ,surprised.

  


'Am I schizophrenic or something?' asked Eden, angrily, 'I mean you, the voice, is all telling me stuff and I don't even know who you are! I mean, what the hell!?'

  


'I'm supposed to be your conscience,' the voice said and then politely added, 'idiot.'

  


'Oh,' Eden thought, 'Well why are you so mean?'

  


'Because the author of this story is a sadistic 17-year-old girl with a sick sense of humor,'the voice sighed. 'So, be nice and maybe she won't cause you any pain.'

  


'Oh man....,'thought Eden.

  


'Yea, I know,' the voice laughed,' You should read her other stories. Can you say psycho?'

  


'Hahahahaahaha...ha....wait, isn't she reading this?' Eden thought.

  


'And writing this too,' the voice added, 'Sick little slut, ain't she?'

  


'I'm not agreeing with you just because I'm deathly afraid,' Eden thought, with fear in her throat, 'I mean, I am the main character.'

  


'You should see what she did to the others,' the voice said with disgust.

  


"Why can't she just stick to....AHHHHH!" 

  


*At this point, the author has used her God-like powers over her creations and stopped their bantering*

  


Yea.....ahem this is just something I wrote in the beginning because I have no life..... Here's the real story: 

--------------

"Eden, koiva," a soft, angelic voice whispered. It was sensual and yet serious and warm. She felt fingers caress her cheek. Her eyes slowly opened to see a multitude of elves, staring down at her. Their faces filled with, not concern, but curiosity and intrigue. 

  


"I'm sorry to interrupt this staring session, but would anyone like to tell me where I am?" she asked quietly. The elves, seeing that she was alright, went their own way...all except three and she recognized one in particular... 

  


"You are at the home of Thranduil," said Legolas and then added, "your king." Sitting up, she groaned. 

  


"Yes, thank you, I am quite aware of who my king is," she muttered and then remembered everything. "Who opened the gate and shot the......the....thing?"

  


"Me and Sernoy shot the wolf and Halatil and a few others opened the gate," one of the three that stayed, said. 

  


"I am forever grateful to you all," she said, but avoided making eye contact with Legolas, excluding him in her thanks on purpose. 'He would have left me locked out if it was him at the gate,' she thought bitterly.

  


"Lady Eden," Legolas suddenly said, "I will accompany you to the main hall." He stood up and started to walk towards the door. 

  


"No, that's alright, I'm really quite-, "started Eden.

  


"Now," Legolas said sternly and she quickly answered "right behind you, highness," and leapt up to follow him out the door. 

  


It was still raining as they walked to the main hall in silence and when they got there, a fire was burning, lighting the huge room dimly. They moved to the fire and stood in front of it, hoping to dry off. He stood staring down at her and her anger quickly rose. 

  


"I am no child, Prince Legolas," said Eden, "Please do not treat me as such."

  


"And what reason have you given me to not treat you like a child?" he said, coldly. His eyes flashing blue fire (sounds pretty, no?). "You have proven to me yet again that you cannot take care of yourself."

  


"I can take perfect care of myself!" pouted Eden. 

  


But she was surprised when he grabbed her wrists and pushed them behind her back. 

  


"Fight back," he said softly, his eyes daring her, and so she did, or attempted to at least. She tried to twist herself away from him, but no matter how hard she tried to get away, he only tightened his grip. She winced in pain. 

  


"I thought you said you could take care of yourself," he said, sarcasm poisoning his voice.

  


"Stop it!" she cried. 

  


"Stop it?" he growled. "Is that what you will say when you are in this position with someone who is incapable of mercy?" He released her and she pushed herself away from him, rubbing her wrists and muttering curses at him. "You will stay in the palace until your parents return. I will send a messenger to your parents telling them of your....experience."

  


She looked up at him, her eyes concerned. "My parents?" she gulped. He looked as if he was trying not to smile. 

  


"I believe they have a right to know," he said. Terrible thoughts filled Eden's head. How would her parents feel if they knew she was out at night in the forest by herself, almost getting herself killed, and she is now at their political rival's house? She shuddered at the thought of her punishment.

  


"You know," she said quickly, "I do not think my parents need to know." She watched as his right eyebrow arched up. "I mean, they need not be bothered with it. I can return home tomorrow. The beast is dead. I will just stay at home from now on and not go outside."

  


"You have a habit of not following directions, I see," he smirked. 

  


"No, I just.....don't want to get into trouble," she mumbled.

  


"I think we have all seen how well you can "take care of yourself"," Legolas said, his voice smooth...like butter....mmmm butter. She was quite hungry. "You will stay here at the palace. Don't make me repeat myself again."

  


"So where am I staying?" she asked innocently. He looked at her, an irritated expression on his face, but said nothing. Eden merely smiled and said "Well?"

  


"Here at the palace," he muttered.

  


"Where again?"

  


"At the palace."

  


"I can't hear you...."

  


"At the bloody palace!" 

  


"Oh............huh?"

  


"Shut up Eden."

  
  


***********************************************************************

  


A/N: She's not that dumb. She's just annoying him. Lol. Hope everyone liked this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it. 

  


BTW: Koiva means wake up

  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. swept away

Legolas and Eden walk up to a pile of corpses.

  


Eden gasps. "Oh my!" she cries. "What.....how......?"

  


"I do not know what this is," said Legolas, as him and Eden stood in front of the pile. "They sometimes drop in out of now where. All of them are female....and human....and usually have a picture of me in their hands." 

  


"But who are they?" she asked, glancing quickly at him.

  


"I do not know," he said, "Didn't I just say that? Seriously Eden, pay attention. I have seen them fall. They are alive when they fall. They look like they're thinking "Hey where am I?", that is, before they hit the ground. Only one of them survived.....and tried to kiss me. It was strange."

  


"What happened to her?" asked Eden.

  


"She died," Legolas said, "They're all human, remember? They don't live very long."

  


"Tell me about it," muttered Eden, "This is so sad."

  


"Don't worry, they all survive now that they have the cushioning of the others to break their fall," Legolas said. 

  


The author suddenly walks in. 

  


"You guys are supposed to be sad and shocked!" she cried. "This is sick! Cushioning!!?!?!"

  


"Um...," said Legolas, "You're the one writing this. Why don't you make us feel sad and shocked?"

  


"You're pretty," author starts drooling uncontrollably.

  


Legolas flips his pantene pro-v hair. "I know," he says cooly. 

  


*End of weirdness*

  


*BEGINNING OF REAL STORY*

  


"This is your room," Legolas said as the servants rushed in to prepare the room.

  


"Thank you," she said, softly. "May I have something to eat? I'm a bit hungry." Legolas nodded.

  


"Of course," he said. "I will tell the servants to make you something." But right after he said that, the door of her room swung open and revealed a well lit bedroom which was about twice as large as hers. The bed was covered with beautiful Mirkwood fabric with a vine pattern and green velvet drapes. It was huge and inviting. A vanity was placed on the other side of the room. It was made of stone and was painted with different shades of silver and gold. The delicate carvings in the vanity were of the lore of the land and told stories that went all the way around the vanity and slid down its smooth legs. Another door led to the wash room. It was perfection. 

  


She stood in the doorway, before she felt him nudge her inside. She stared in amazement at the room, while Legolas told the servants to make her dinner and they rushed out. 

  


Eden turned to look at him and he held her gaze for a while. She suddenly felt very self-conscious and realized that she was wearing merely a slip over her nightgown. She knew she looked terrible. Her hair was a mess and still damp and she was still deathly pale. He walked up slowly to her and her gaze dropped to the floor.

  


"I was worried about you today, Eden," he said, his voice so lulling and warm and innocent...and...and...

  


'Quick Eden, say something!'she screamed at herself.

  


"Oh, that's nice,"she managed to say. 'Brilliant, just brilliant,' she thought, 'What an intelligent thing to say.'

  


She thought she had blown it entirely, but he continued. "I ran to the barracks as quickly as I could."

  


Eden looked up at him, surprised and half smiling. "Why?" She wanted to play with him a bit.

  


He stayed quiet and then said, "You're trying to play with me." But he smiled when he said it.

  


_Damn_

  


"Only a little," Eden said, grinning. The dinner had come in and a table and two chairs were laid out and the servants rushed out.

  


"Well, I see that you are alright," he cleared his throat. "I will be going now."

  


"Unless you want to stay," Eden said, quickly. "Damn you,' her conscience screamed, 'Eden, you don't know how to talk to people, especially to the Prince of Mirkwood, as in the son of Thranduil, as in the man who your father does not particularly enjoy, as in....'

  


'Ok! I get it!,' Eden sighed inside her head. 'But now if he chooses to stay, I have to entertain him with some fine conversation.' 

  


"Would you like some fruit?" asked Eden. 'What a wonderful conversation starter,' she thought, sarcastically. 'Smooth, Eden, real smooth.'

  


"No thanks," he smiled. 'Take the damn fruit!' she wanted to scream, but she merely smiled back and looked away shyly. 

  


"Eden," he purred and walked closer to her, their lips almost touching. She could feel the blood in her body start to flow faster and the heat from him seemed to radiate throughout her. "I would like some bread." 

  


Or not.

  


And then he burst out laughing.

  


"You really thought I was going to kiss you!" he laughed. Eden's mouth dropped open. She was too shocked to say anything. 

  


"You've got a lot to learn about men, my lady," and he turned towards the door and left, still laughing.

  


Eden stood there, confused. Her mouth was still open. Finally she managed to say something:

  


"What the....," and she screamed the last word so loud that many of the people living in that hall peered through their doors to see what was going on. She finally calmed down, stuffed her face with food and called for the servants who helped her get ready for bed.

  


"I am leaving tomorrow," she said aloud and went to sleep, making a mental note to wake up extra early.

  


&&&&&

  


Stretching out on her bed and yawning, she woke before the sun had risen over the trees. She quickly got herself ready, still in her night wear (she decided she would change at home) and turned to run to the stables.

  


And ran flat into somebody much taller. "Hey watch where you're.....oh," she said, realizing who it was. 

  


"Still early, Lady Eden," Legolas smiled, coldly, "Perhaps you should get back to bed." His eyes traveled south. " I see you are in your night wear. How inappropriate. I'm sure it is alright to go about like this at your own home, but this is the palace. You should uphold some kind of social etiquette here." Eden's eyes turned into narrow slits as she glared at him with all her might.

  


"Well, I won't be here for long, so fret not," she said and tried to walk past him, but he blocked her.

  


"I thought I made it clear that you were to stay here," he said harshly. Suddenly, she was the one who got very close to him. He did not stop her for he was too surprised and to tell you the truth, dear reader, she was quite surprised herself.

  


"I thought you made it clear you didn't want me............. to stay," her lips almost touching his (getting annoying, huh?) and then she pushed him away and walked down the hallway. The Prince of Mirkwood had not been that stunned for a long time.

  


She smiled at herself. 'Oh Eden, you cunning girl, you,' she thought to herself as she brushed Summo, 'Who would ever think that having a human trait could be an advantage!?'

  


But she quickly rethought that as a gloved hand captured her wrist.

  


"Why are you up so early highness?" she asked, trying to pull away.

  


"I'm always up this early," Legolas said in a cruel voice, "It's a habit." He pulled her along, back to the palace. 

  


The stable boys stared at them as Legolas practically dragged Eden out of the stable. 

  


"Stop!" she cried (very loudly), "I don't want to stay here!" She was starting to actually unwind her wrist from his grip when he grabbed her by the waist and slung her over his shoulder. There was no point in struggling now.

  


"Do you think you're being funny?" she spat, "Are your brothers watching this?"

  


"Watch your words, Lady Eden," said Legolas, "You might just get dropped on the head."

  


"If you dropped me, could I crawl away to my horse?" she asked.

  


"No, you'd still go back to your room," he laughed. 

  


"Think you're being funny, do you?" she cried. She was so unhappy and angry. First, he made her feel like a complete fool and now....well before that as well, he was making her feel like a child. 

  


When he got to her door, he opened it and walked inside and put her down on the bed. He had hoped to leave without her catching him locking her door, but she was unusually fast when she wanted to be and she dashed past him. He grabbed her nightgown and dragged her back. 

  


Now he'd done it. 

  


She turned around and kicked him in a place where it was particularly painful for a male, no matter what species, to be kicked in. He gasped and grabbed at her again, but she dodged him and ran out the door. 

  


Legolas, however, had been in battle many times and could take the pain much better than most males. This did not mean that he did not feel anything, but simply that he felt less pain and could recover quicker. He leapt up with the agility of a cat and moved swiftly out the door and after Eden who had gotten closer to the stables. He caught up with her quickly and grabbed her back. So maybe she could take care of herself.....sort of.

  


"That was a very disgusting, vile, and not to mention unfair, thing to do," he said through gritted teeth.

  


"Aww," smiled Eden, "Would you like me to do it again?" She wasn't afraid of him!

  


"No I would not like you to do it again!" he said, his eyes changing to a particularly icy shade of blue. Alright, _now _she was afraid. He looked as if he was out to murder.

  


"Tsk tsk tsk," said Eden, her voice hiding her fear, "You know, if you let me go home, I wouldn't be bothering you this much."

  


He snarled and pulled her back into her room, shutting the door behind him. 

  


"You are going to behave," he warned. 

  


"Or what?" she teased. 'Eden stop, 'her conscience begged her, but she was too far in. She had made her point quite clear and backing down now would make her weak.

  


But he said nothing and continued to glare fiercely. "For you see, highness," continued Eden, "I was under the impression that with the way that you're treating me, you wanted me gone." 'What has he to say to that?'wondered Eden.

  


But he surprised her by answering softly, " I would never let one of my own people die if I had a chance to stop it." 

  


"I see," said Eden. She was treading on dangerous waters, but she did not care. "Well, I suppose that would put a damper on how much support you get." She was laughing inside now. For some reason, this was all hilarious to her. Was she actually talking like to the Prince and future King of Mirkwood? Surely, this wasn't real.

  


"Mind your place, Eden," he glared. 

  


"And where is that?" she smiled.

  


"Below me," he said. Eden burst out laughing. "Good, now say that really fast and lets see what interesting phrase we can come up with." (A/N: no really, try it!)

  


"Eden..," he hissed.

  


"Why won't you let me go home?" she stalked over to him. "Why? You know now that I obviously CAN take care of myself and that if I run into any trouble I'll just come back."

  
  


"No," he said and turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back. 

  


"Pleeeeaaaaasseeee??" she cried, "I am so bored!"

  


"Good," Legolas smiled, pulling her hands of his arm, "Then you will accompany me to the archery grounds." He chuckled as she let out a tortured groan and sank onto a chair. 

  


"I'll tell the servants to get you ready," he said and walked out the door. Eden ran to window, opened it, and screamed as loud as she could. Oh, she was so furious.

  


'Great!' she thought, 'Yet another way for Prince Legolas to prove how great he is and to make me look like a fool.'

  


She was about to lean against the window when suddenly the servants grabbed her and practically pulled her clothes off and put riding clothes on her. When they shuffled out of the room, she stood in front of the mirror dazed. 'Well that was fast,' she thought.

  


She looked at herself in the mirror. Somehow, they had managed to wash her face and make her hair look nice. She was too plain, too thin, and not tall enough. That was what she saw in the mirror usually, but this time, she seemed to glow. 

  


She was escorted to the archery range by one of the servants. Legolas and six other male elves stood chatting quietly. He starred at her as she walked into the clearing. She had, despite the angry looks of the servants, pulled off her pony tail and let her hair hang free. It blew gently in the wind........right into her mouth. "Pfew!" she spat using her fingers to gently pull out little hairs out of her mouth. 

  


"It's about time," one of the elves said, glaring at her and then eyeing her when she looked away.

  


Legolas shot the first arrow and made it directly on the target. The rest did the same or close to it. 

  


Eden merely stood across from her target with a quiver of arrows propped in front of her and playing with the bow whose top rested in her hands and the bottom was digging itself into the ground. She was completely spaced out. 'Pretty trees,' she thought, 'I wonder if....' 

  


But her thoughts were interrupted when Legolas poked at her gently. 

  


"Eden, wake up," he said and the rest of the elves laughed.

  


"What?" she asked, annoyed that he interrupted her thought process.

  


"Aren't you going to shoot any arrows?" he asked. Everyone was staring at her. 

  


"I'm not very good," she said, quietly, looking away.

  


"Well that's a given," she heard one of the elves say and the rest all laughed. Legolas held a smug smile on his face.

  


She wanted to scream. 'He actually thinks I care that they don't like me!' she thought, 'Well, I'll show him.'

  


"Well go on," the harassing elf said, "We haven't got all day."

  


"In case you have forgotten, we're elves," she reminded him, "We have eternity."

  


"Well, at least some of us do," the elf was a male and had long blonde hair and blue eyes like that of all the elves in that clearing at the moment, but he was still very handsome. His cheek bones rose very sharply on his handsome face and his lips were full and pouty, his eyes like blue crystal (A/N: does that even exist? oh well the image is really pretty). He did not look a bit like Legolas, but was still handsome, but then again aren't they all? Anyways....

  


Eden dropped her bow and marched up to him. "What exactly do you mean by that?" but he merely laughed. She wanted to kick him where she kicked Legolas not too long ago, but Legolas, sensing her anger and motions, pulled her back and said, "We should get back to what we were doing in the first place, watching you shoot an arrow."

  


Oh how she wanted to wrap her fingers around that beautiful royal neck of his and squeeze. 'He did this on purpose, of course, to make me look like an idiot,' she thought angrily.

  


She felt miserable. It was bad enough she had to be around these people at the festivities, but to actually spend long periods of time with them was torture. 

  


She stared at the arrow in her hand. 'Come on Eden, you have seen your brothers do this millions of time,' she urged herself on. 

  


"What are you going to do?" laughed the mean elf, "throw it?" The rest burst out laughing, as usual.

  


She strung it and pulled back. 

  


"Miss!" they all yelled as she let it go. It sailed past the target and they all laughed cruelly. Even Legolas was chuckling a bit. 

  


The mean elf began clapping rhythmically and slowly approached her.

  


"Very well done, Lady Goldenlight," he pulled her to him, his breath on her face. "What else can you do?" 

  


She almost didn't feel her nails collide with his face as she took a swipe and ran off into the woods, shedding her jacket on the forest floor (A/N: don't you hate it when that happens in movies? Poor jacket! But its ok! One of the servants picks it up later..on the with the story). She ran until she was sure no one was following and then looked down at her hands. 

  


'What have I done?' she whispered as she saw blood and skin under her fingernails. Her eyes filled with tears and she ran to find a creek, trying to clean the filth. She felt sick to her stomach and almost had to swallow the rising vomit in her throat. She crawled next to a tree and cried, her knees drawn up and her arms hugging herself. 

  


She hadn't meant to do it. She only meant to slap him, but instead her anger got the best of her. How did she always manage to make her situations go from bad to worse? 

  


Sure the cruel elf was being mean, but he wouldn't have done anything. He was harmless, right? But instead she was so fully taken by her emotions that she let herself get angry. 

  


A wave of nausea poured over her. Elves did not do this to their own kind, but another species did......

  


'A weakness,' she thought as she cried. 'My weakness. He knew about it. He knew he could make my emotions get the best of me. It was too easy for him. He could probably smell the blood of that one ancestor running in me. I shouldn't have done it still......But they were being so mean, so cruel. Why? For no reason and it hurt.....'

  


"Eden," she heard Legolas's voice say as he stepped into the clearing. 

  


"Please go away, highness," she whispered. 

  


"Do you know what you did?" he asked, angrily, his eyes flashing.

"I don't want to know," she said, her voice still barely above a whisper, and tried to move away from him, but he caught her wrist and pulled her up onto her feet. 

  


"Why did you do it Eden?" he asked, his expression serious and yearning for an answer.

  


"I thought he was going to hurt me so I...I...," she couldn't finish. Another tear ran down her cheek.

  


"I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he said. "Did you not believe me?"

  


"And what reason have you given me to trust you?" she asked, getting angry, "You did nothing when he grabbed me. You would not have dared do anything." 

  


"If I thought for a second that Talad would have hurt you, I would have been quick to action," he assured her.

  


"You did not think his advance on me was threatening?"she demanded.

  


"No, I don't think it was," he glared.

  


"Well, I felt threatened," she said softly," And I have a right to protect myself."

  


"No doubt you do, but," to Legolas's surprise, she interrupted him.

  


"Please leave me alone, my lord," she said, turning around to hide her tears. "Please." He turned her around and she thought he would surely start to yell at her, but he did not. 

  


He could not. She looked so pitiful and upset, he hadn't the heart to yell at her. It was almost heart-breaking.

  


He drew her to him and her head rested on his chest and she cried softly into him, feeling like an idiot for crying in front of him. His arms enveloped her and she felt a sense of comfort. 

  


Meanwhile, while she was this close to him, she took the time to study the situation. He smelled like spice and the forest and his warmth radiated to her. His hands gently stroked her back and hair. Hmmm...wasn't she upset about something? Oh yes.....

  


"Do not cry," he purred. "Everything will be alright. You are safe. You are with me."

  


And for a second, a split second, she liked him very much.

  


*******************************************************************

  


Well? What did everyone think? *crickets chirping* alrighty then, moving on..... It is longer than most of the other ones. I would really appreciate more reviews on this story. They are not necessary but they are quite an inspiration. *wink wink* *nudge nudge* 

  


Also, I need some advice. I've been thinking of doing a Legolas POV. Should I or is the mystery of not knowing better?

  
  



	8. cleaning again

Eden pulled away from Legolas slowly (and reluctantly) and felt him release her gently, but his hand captured her own and pulled her along with the utmost care. 

  


"Come," Legolas said, "We will go back and straighten everything out."

  


"Is that even possible?" she sniffed.

  


"Anything is possible," he muttered softly. 

  


"Is he badly hurt?" she asked.

  


"I thought you didn't want to know," he looked back at her, an eyebrow raised.

  


"Morbid curiosity, I suppose," she looked out into the distance.

  


"We have good healers," he said, "You did not take too much skin off and it will probably heal with no scarring. You had to go for the face, didn't you?"

  


"With the way he was talking to me, it seemed like there really wasn't anything else to go for," Legolas laughed. She almost smiled, feeling slightly better until he said:

  


"I will tell my father not to be too harsh with you."

  


She stopped. Realizing this, he stopped and turned to her. "What?" Legolas asked, the smile wiped from his face, "Did you think you would get off with nothing when you did that to the only child of my aunt and uncle ?"

  


"He threatened me," she cried, her hope dwindling again. 'My parents....,' is all that was going through her head. 

  


"There were five other witnesses including myself who saw nothing wrong," he said, calmly, taking her hand a bit rougher this time and pulling her along a lot less gently than before.

  


"Stop right now, I would like to replay the events," Eden said.

  


"No, I was there," said Legolas, "I already know the events."

  


"Just stop," said Eden," Please." They stopped. He turned to face her, an annoyed look on his face.

  


"Alright, so I am him and you are me," said Eden, positioning her and Legolas to be parallel. "So he started taunting me and then he said 'very well done, Goldenlight and then he did this.."

  


She pulled Legolas to her as Talad had done to her. His eyes widened a bit. "And then he said.....well, more like asked, 'What else can you do?' and I felt threatened and slapped.....well, more like sliced.....heh... his face."

  


Suddenly realizing their close proximity, she stepped back and said, "Well?"

  


Legolas stood there, looking dazed and then looked at her and said, "I am sorry, Lady Eden. I did not know it was as bad as that. I will tell my father immediately and your punishment will be diminished even more."

  


"WHAT?" A flock of birds suddenly flew away. The forest was quiet. "Do you SERIOUSLY mean to tell me that even after he did that to me, I STILL GET PUNISHED?!"

  


"Technically, he did nothing to you," said Legolas, "and I admit it was totally inappropriate for him to do what he did but he did not cause you any harm."

  


Eden looked down at the ground. 'Stupid arrogant asshole royal-pain-in-the-arse prince,' she thought bitterly, 'He's right.' 

  


Eden nodded and he took her hand once more and led her onward towards the palace. As they passed through the halls, even the servants glared at her. Finally, they came to main hall and Legolas told her to sit on the bench and wait for him while he talked to the King.

  


She sat there, staring out at the beautiful forest. 'Oh Eden, Eden,' she thought to herself, 'What has happened to you? Your parents will be so upset and ashamed. They will never forgive you for this.'

  


The door opened and she was called inside. She walked inside to face cold blue glares all around the room. She bowed low and then stood back up.

  


"Ahh, Lady Eden Goldenlight," said King Thranduil. Legolas sat by his side, staring at her, his expression devoid of any emotion. "I have been hearing so much about you."

  


'Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact,' she willed herself as she looked down at the floor.

  


"I have heard of your....bad luck...and the law requires that I give you a punishment, but since your....ordeal....is different, I will take some things into consideration," the King continued. "It will be a light punishment and you will not suffer." He smiled warmly. 

  


"Today, you will clean out all the rooms of the palace," announced King Thranduil, "And if you do not finish, you will stay until you do."

  


Eden's heart sank. 'It had to be cleaning,' she thought, 'It's _always_ cleaning. There are about 1,000 rooms in this palace. It will take me so long! And I HATE cleaning!'

  


Seeing the anguished look on her face, King Thranduil continued, "But fret not my child, I will tell your parents of your whereabouts." Eden felt as if her heart was somewhere in her foot (great metaphor, eh? Eh?) . She looked up and smiled wryly and bowed to the king, thanking him quietly. She was then escorted to the servants quarters where she was given cleaning utensils and started immediately on the rooms of the servants (he said ALL the rooms, remember?). When night fell she had finished the servant quarters and had started on the library. 

  


And fell asleep holding a book on the habits of the House of Eorl.

  


"Interesting reading?" asked Legolas and Eden woke with a start, throwing the book at him (which of course, he dodged easily) and then screamed, seeing who she threw the book at.

  


"I...I..," she stammered, embarrassed that she fell asleep. "I didn't mean...I accidentally...please excuse me..." She jumped up and continued cleaning.

  


"Eden," Legolas smiled and took the wash cloth out of her hand and drew her away from the book shelf. "It is long since the sun has set beyond the tree tops. You need rest. You can start again tomorrow." 

  


Eden nodded and let him lead her. "You're quite a hard worker," he said.

  


"Yes, well, only 879 rooms to go!" she said, trying to sound cheerful. When they arrived at her room, she turned to him to thank him.

  


But was caught off-guard as his lips brushed her own. A slight shock ran through her body (ZAP! Just kidding! Ahem.....). 

  


"Thank you," said Eden, "I mean...no not thank you...I mean...." 

  


"Goodnight, Lady Goldenlight, rest well," he turned and left her standing in the dark. 

  


She went inside her room and beat her head against the wall.

  


'THANK YOU?' she screamed at herself silently. 'You actually thanked him, you idiot?'

  


************************************************************

A/N: Very short I know, but the next chapter should make up for it. As for the Legolas POV, majority rules (sorry!). Although, if I think the story REALLY needs it. I'll add a line of his thoughts, although I don't know what he's thinking...I dunno. Let's just take this one step at a time, shall we? The choose your own adventure fic website is slowly being created. 

  


I want to thank everyone who has been with this story! I'm so glad people are liking it. This is my third lotr fic. I'm still being flamed and yelled at for my first lol and I probably should edit it, but....meh....too lazy. :-P 

  


And yes, Legolas does have perfect looks, but I couldn't imagine his personality to be perfect, elf or not. In fact, I'd find it disgusting. I'd hate him! And I couldn't make a Legolas that I hated. Making him be naughty just makes him more attractive in my eyes. Sorry to all who disagree. Hope you find yourselves a fic where Legolas is Mr. sunshine perfection in all ways. :-) 


	9. warmth

"My first kiss," Eden sighed and snuggled into the covers of her bed. It was still dark when she had woken up. She imagined the way it felt again. Alright, so it was a bit brief, but still! Never had any male elf kissed her the way Legolas did last night. But then it all came back to her.

  


"I actually said thank you!?" she groaned and pounded her head against the pillow. Her head swam with strange thoughts that she had never had before. 'If only that kiss was longer....If only his lips were closer...If only.....'

  


She sat up in bed. 'What if he was only joking?' her blood boiled at the thought, 'Yes, his brothers were probably watching, trying not to laugh. I mean the last time he got close...he burst out laughing. He knows of my ignorance.'

  


And of course she knew a few things about that specific subject because she had often overheard her mother and the other ladies talking about it in a hushed whisper that seemed to roll on in her mind even after they had stopped talking. Legolas was much, much (emphasis on much) older than Eden and she knew that he was....well.....a bit more knowledgeable in that area (and indeed he was), whereas she had only received her first kiss last night. This scared her greatly for some reason, for the wisdom of his eyes seemed overbearing at times. And yet there was also a deep sadness to them, as of one who had seen to much death, too much pain.

  


Weary of thinking, she slid out of bed and called a servant to prepare a bath for her. 'I'm in the palace,' she shrugged as the smell of lavender and chamomile penetrated her senses, 'I might as well enjoy it.' She sank into the steamy bath, her muscles relaxing. 

  


The maid helped dress her and gave her cleaning supplies and sent her off to another day of cleaning. She scrubbed every inch of the rooms she was in, leaving everything clean and shiny and smelling fresh.

  


"You wouldn't make a bad maid," some of the elves commented while she cleaned. She only answered with a warm smile and a nod of the head, while her thoughts were filled with her hands wringing their elegant necks.

  


Finally, it was almost night and she decided to do one more room. She knocked three times and waited. The door clicked open and Legolas stood smiling down at her. He moved aside to welcome her in. She blushed slightly and muttered a "hello." 

  


"I am hearing you are quite good at cleaning,"he said sitting down, watching her as she started to clean the door with oils that wiped the dirt away and made it shimmer. "And that you would make quite a good maid." She could not read his expression when she looked back at him. 

  


There he sat, the Prince of Mirkwood, in all his glory. His hair sprawled down his back and around his shoulders as he sat in a rather kingly manner with a goblet of wine in one hand and a blank expression on his face. His eyes fixated on her and nothing else. There was no mistaking that this was a future king. His very look brought all people to their knees and made them feel low and unworthy. He was perfection, a statue of white marble, gold, and saphire. He was beautiful.

  


'And he gave me my first kiss!' Eden giggled inside.

  


But to his statement she merely said. "Oh, well I dare hope that such a fate will not come unto me."

  


"One never knows what fate will come unto them," he said, his eyes still watching her, hawk-like, as if she was prey. 

  


"Even so, I have no desire to become a maid," she said, stiffly. 

  


"Why not?" Legolas asked, a sudden sharpness ringing in his voice.

  


"Because I do not wish to serve others all my life," she said, scrubbing a spot of dirt that refused to come off the floor. "I do not wish to be spat upon or looked down upon my entire life. And also, I.....scrubbing harder hate.......scrubbing even harder...... cleaning ahh finally." 

  


"Maids are not spat upon or looked down upon," he said, "Maybe it is only you and your family that does so."

  


She stopped cleaning and looked back at him, a hurt expression on her face. It quickly changed as her eyes narrowed in anger. But inwardly she was smiling. She knew how to make him angry and despite her conciounce's pleas, she decided to play a game.

  


"I will say nothing for you are the Prince of Mirkwood and your opinions are your own,"she said simply, as if she was bored. "Who am I to say any different...." Oh, this would really make him mad. And it did.

  


Hawk-eyes narrowed, but never left her. The wine in his goblet swirled dangerously. A deadly silence hung in the air.

  


'Alright, so he kisses me and now he's acting like he's got a few arrows up his arse,' thought Eden, angrily. 'I really don't understand men. I'm so confused.'

  


"My opinions are very similar to everyone else's," he said through gritted teeth, his eyes following her as she moved to his armoire.

  


"I think if I listened to everyone else's opinions of me, I would surely be dead, highness," she sighed. She was getting sick of this. 

  


She polished the armoire and then opened it and gasped. Weapons of all sorts seemed to jab out at her, even if they were lying in their own fitted spaces. She looked back at him, hoping he would say that he had already polished them, but she recieved no such comfort. 

  
  


Instead, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

  


And then added, "Oh and be careful."

  


She almost smiled at him until he again added, "I don't want you dropping them."

  


She glared at the satisfied look on his face and then turned around and took out a knife and started to polish it. She had stopped glaring and her face was now at rest. Glaring is hard work, especially when done for long periods of time. Her face had actually started to hurt after all that glaring. She wondered if his face had hurt too. 'I shall have to do exercises to perfect my glare and to make it stop hurting for when I am with Prince Legolas, it seems inevitable that I will glare at sometime during our meeting,' she thought.

  


She grabbed a hook-like device and started to clean it. It was very light and dusty and so she sat down on the floor to scrub the grime off of it. 

  


"What is this for?" she asked. 

  


"Many uses for that," he said, "It can be used as a weapon in battle or it can be tied to an arrow and snagged on a tree....or something else... and you can just pull yourself up."

  


She nodded and finished cleaning it. Then, she saw a sword and picked it up. It was extremely heavy and she groaned as she felt its full weight.

  


"How do you use this thing in battle?" she asked, finally managing to put it gently in her lap. "So bloody heavy...." 

  


Now came the simple task of unsheathing it....... 

  


"That is a sword given to me by King Aragorn as a gift," said Legolas, starring dreamily out of his window. "I have never used it in battle although I have cut off an orc's head with it. It is not that heavy once you become accustomed to bearing a sword at all times." His head turned to her. 

  


"How charming," she grumbled. She was still struggling with it. Putting his goblet down, he grabbed it from her and unsheathed it with ease. 

  


He smiled as her mouth hung open. Her hair was a mess and falling all around her eyes and she was a bit sweaty from cleaning the whole day and now wrestling with this sword. The front of her dress had come slightly undone and he had a good view at the top of her breasts (A/N: Of course he looked! A male is male, no matter what species). She fanned herself off with the rag and looked up at him, annoyed, as he swung the great sword around as if it was merely a stick. 

  


"Showoff," she muttered, but he stood proud and kingly, studying the sword and suddenly moved the sword towards her. She looked up at him with a look of confusion and doubt and then gasped as he brought the sword to her neck. She tried moving back, but it followed her. 

  


"H-highness...w-what are you doing?" she managed to ask. He said nothing. His eyes were cold, but his face had no expression, except......except.......was that the smallest smile in all of Middle Earth?. 

  


She moved back once more, but the sword still followed her, pressing itself deeper into her skin. No place to move now. Her back was against the wall. The sword felt cool against her skin as he pressed the side against the side of her neck, tracing the jaw line as if he was using a pen to draw her. She gasped as the tip of the sword moved up and down her neck. A shiver ran through her. It felt strange, not bad...but different...kind of nice. But no....she wasn't supposed to like feeling scared...she wasn't supposed to be enjoying this. 

  


"Highness," she said, nervously, "T-this isn't very nice....o-or appropriate." But inside, she knew he would never....he wouldn't think....

  


She made a sharp intake of breath as the sword pressed deeper still. Her skin felt as if it would surely rupture under the pressure and then suddenly the sword withdrew. She touched the skin there. No blood. In fact, not even a cut or a scrape, the skin was perfectly in tact. She looked up at him. 

  


"Old elvish trick," he said, "Maybe I'll teach you one day." He kneeled down next to her and placed the sword in her lap. Her eyes wide open, her chest rising as she breathed deeply, she looked at him, shocked. 

  


"I can't imagine doing that to anyone," she said, still rubbing her neck. She felt the imprint of the knife and yet there was no physical sign of it ever being on her skin. 

  


"It was used as a way to get information out of people who withheld it without having to leave any physical damage," Legolas explained and then added," The humans have yet to master this trick. They have tried of course, but always end up killing whoever it is they try it on."

  


"Oh?" she glared at him, "What information did I withhold, highness?"

  


"You are telling me you did not enjoy it?" his eyebrow raised. 'Shutup shutup SHUTUP!' thought Eden.

  


"Absolutely not!" she cried and tried standing up, swaying slightly under the swords weight. He stood up with her, towering over her, a mocking smile on his face.

  


"Why?" she looked up at him, still holding the heavy sword and retorted, "Did you enjoy doing it?"

  


But she was surprised when he laughed and said, "Maybe." 

  


Her eyes met his for a moment and then drew away as she moved back to the armoire after polishing the sword. Her back was still to him as she felt fingers moving ever so gently up the back of her dress. Then hands drew her hair aside and she felt hot breath on her exposed neck.

  


'Dangerous,' her mind whispered. 'Do you not remember what your mother told you? He is dangerous!'

  


*You are now entering the Twilight zone.....ok not really its just a Flashback...but be prepared!....for....something....*

  


The sun poured into her room as Eden kicked her brother Herund in the stomach.

  


"Oh! Mother!" cried Herund, "Eden kicked me! I'm telling mother, Eden! MOTHER!"

  


Mithnaial Goldenlight rushed into the room with a furious look her face. Picking her son up off the floor, she ushered him out of the room and closed the door, turning angry eyes to Eden.

  


Eden took a deep breath. "Mother I can explain! I kicked him because I was looking at myself in the mirror and then he said that I was ugly and I know he is right but it still isn't nice to say it and so I told him to be quiet and he didn't and then he said no and then I said-"

  


"Enough!" her mother screamed. "I am sick of this arrogance of yours!"

  


"Arrogance?" said Eden, shocked. 

  


*Wait....heh sorry! Wrong flashback....*turns time machine again* alright here we go....*

  


"Eden, my darling," said Mithnaial Goldenlight holding her daughter as she cried in her arms. "Do not be frightened of such things. We are elves and we have an eternity to marry. We only introduced you to Geruir to see if one day you will like each other. Nothing more! There now, do not cry."

  


"Marriage," scoffed Eden, wiping the tears away, "Who wants it anyways? I have enough boys in my life. Why have one more?"

  


"Oh, silly girl," her mother laughed, "You will understand someday. But for now, let me tell you something. I think you are old enough. Marriage not only depends on love, but on status as well. You cannot marry anyone below you. You can only marry one with equal or higher status."

  


"Why, mother?" asked Eden.

  


"Why, child," her mother smiled. "What strange questions you ask." But her mother went on. 

  


"Eden, there are those, however, that are of equal and higher ranks that you cannot wed either," she said. Eden nodded in understanding, but was utterly confused.

  


"There are treasures that seem to be in the very palm of your hand, but they are indeed dangerous and wish to destroy you," her mother said, her face growing serious. "You must never let our rivals win your heart. You must never let them near you. It will be a grave thing. They will try and capture your heart and they will use disgusting techniques to do so, but do not let them sway you, my child, for they only seek your humiliation and the destruction of all that you know and love." Eden looked on with fear in her eyes. These did not sound at all like elves to her, but orcs. Was her mother truly talking about elves? 

  


"I am of course speaking primarily of the king's family," Mithnaial said, "Oh, they will try and shame you just like they shamed the Cinderwood clan. That poor girl...."

  


*********End of Flashback*************

  
  


She was older now. She now knew what could shame a lady. She now knew why Cireda Cinderwood was "shamed." She now knew why Cireda was the butt of almost all jokes. She was gone now. Her family had sailed away into the Grey havens with her family. Eden did not want to be the next Cireda. 

  


Tender, warm lips pressed themselves against her neck. 

  


_They will try and shame you....._

  


Eden breathed in deeply. 'No,' she thought. 'Legolas would never..'

  


_They will try and capture your heart and they will use disgusting techniques to do so_

  


'I have to get out of here,' her mind swam, 'I have to leave. I have finished his room. I have to- I need to leave.' A fear in her heart rose that she had not felt since that night with her mother. She felt his hands snake around her waist as his nose traced her ear. 

  


_disgusting techniques_

  


She suddenly drew away from him, picking up her cleaning supplies. Tears were in her eyes, but when he moved to comfort her, his eyes showing so much emotion and love that she wanted to fly into his arms and stay there forever, but she drew away again. 

  


"You wish my defeat," she whispered, "Yet I will give you no such victory." She shut the door behind her and walked swiftly down the hall to the next room. He did not come after her.

  


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A/N: this is obviously not the end or else my story would have then had no point either than to torture and make poor fan girls cry (that's only ONE of my hobbies). There is more. I'm just saying this from experience because whenever something bad happens in one of my stories, a lot of people scream "don't end it yet!" Paranoia, I suppose. lol. A lot of fan fic authors traumatize my poor readers. But fret not! I take pity on you all because I am also a fan fic reader and I just seem to choose all the stories that never get updated. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. insert cool chapter name because I can't...

It took Eden two more days to all the rooms in the palace. She had avoided Legolas and every time she saw him she would duck and cover, hoping he did not notice her. She could almost feel his eyes scowering for her. 

  


But today was the last day. Today was the day that she got to go home (finally). She was not looking forward to seeing her family, especially her parents, but she was glad to leave the house of Thranduil. She sat at her desk, scribbling a letter to the chef who had been kind enough to make her a rather large batch of fruit cakes. 

  


She did not notice when the Prince entered the room silently. His footsteps were inaudible to her as she continued writing, commenting on how smart it was for the chef to add actual fruit bits in the cakes. 

  


"Why do you avoid me?" his clear, soft voice lingered in her head. Eden did not turn around and yet her heart had practically jumped in her throat. She had paused, the quill in her hand dripped ink onto the parchment, but then continued writing, deciding to ignore him.

  


"Again I ask," he said, moving closer now, "What have I done to lose your trust?"

  


"The question, highness, is what have you done to gain it?" she still did not turn around.

  


"I think I can point out a thing or two that I have done," Legolas smirked. She stayed quiet. 

  


"Eden, talk to me, please," his voice was so sad....oh the sultry wickedness of this elf. But she would not be swayed. "If I have done anything to upset you, I apologize. I suppose I was a bit forward....a-and inappropriate with you." He heard her sigh. 

  


"I-it wasn't that...," she said, her back still to him and then she said in a whisper, "I fear you." 

  


His expression did not change. He merely looked down upon her again. Her copper hair was hanging loosely behind her and her head was drooping slightly. He moved the chair, while she was still sitting on it, so it would face him and then kneeled down and took her hands in his own.

  


"Was it because of...," he started.

  


"No!" she almost cried out, "No. It wasn't that. I just fear....I fear your capibilities. I fear your manipulation. I am still young and my heart is yet malleable. I know what has happened to others in the past and I....do not know the source of your....actions."

  


"I understand not what you mean," he shook his head, stroking her hand gently. "What others? And what do you mean you don't know the source of my actions? I would assume it is all self-explanatory."

  


"Must I remind you of Cindera?" she said, in a quiet voice. "And....and...well our families are not exactly the best of friends. I do not know your intentions. I do not know why you act so kind to me. There is no reason for it, except that you might be plotting against me and my family and using me like you used Cindera." Her hands had slipped out of his and she leaned back.

  


"You are mistaken in your assumptions," said Legolas quietly. "Cindera was my brother's lover, not mine. I would never treat a lady in such a way as he did. He shamed her and yes, her family was our political rival, but she did not deserve the shame that she received. To me, our family was shamed, to put an innocent girl through that kind of ordeal. Did you really think it was me the whole time?"

  


Eden smirked. "Maybe," she said, "But how I do know that you are different than your brother?"

  


"Because my brother does not respect the opposite sex," said Legolas and then whispered. "I am enthralled with it." 

  


Eden laughed. "Enthralled?" she giggled. "What is there to be enthralled with?"

  


"Everything," he did not smile, "Females are the Valar's gift to every species. They bring the beginning of life and they are living dreams walking on this very earth."

  


"Not all of us are like that," Eden turned towards the open window, but Legolas's hand moved her chin towards him.

  


"Oh yes," he whispered. "You are." He kissed her passionately.

  


'This is my second kiss!' she cheered in her thoughts.

  


But she was startled by his tongue slithering into her mouth and pulled back.

  


"Are you sure you're doing this right?" she asked. He only laughed and kissed her again, his tongue in her mouth once more. Alright, so maybe it wasn't THAT bad, just a bit strange. 

  


'I already have a tongue in my mouth,' giggled Eden to herself, 'I certainly don't need another one, especially if it's someone else's!'

  


But somehow, he had forced her own tongue to react and it was now playing with and carressing his. Their actions were sending chills down her spine.

  


'Strange how such a.....what's the word....strange act can bring so much pleasure,' she thought.

  


But now it was his turn to pull back. 

  


"I will surely miss you, Lady Eden," he said, stroking her cheek and then stood up, as did she. 

  


"Perhaps we will see each other again, Prince Legolas," she smiled.

  
  


"I have no doubt about that," said Legolas, kissing her hand. "Perhaps we can meet again somewhere."

  


"Where?" asked Eden. "I'm going to be punished so harshly when I get home. I doubt I'll ever go outside ever again."

  


"So then I will come to you," he said, "Your window is the one by the willow tree, am I right?"

  


"How did you know?" she asked, surprised.

  


"I know many things, Lady Eden," he said and offered his arm to her. "Your horse and escorts await you." Eden laughed and took his hand. They walked in silence down the hall to the stables, stopping once to drop off her letter to the chef. 

  


When she was on her horse, she looked down at him, waiting to feel the power, and yet his eyes made her shrink, even when she was so high above him on Sumo. 

  


He took her hand. "I will visit you when I can, Lady Eden. Have a safe journey."

  


His hand let go of hers and he walked away. Eden wished he had stayed longer, or better yet accompanied her home. 

  


But now, as the gates of the palace closed behind the train of escorts, she realized that she had much worse things to deal with. As in, the matter of her parents.

  


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A/N: If you think this was supposed to be a big romantic scene, fear not because it wasn't supposed to really be one. I mean it was, but not really. This chapter was sort of like a lever for the story because I think it really helps boost the next few chapters since it explained and maybe even quenched some of the fears that Eden had, or did it? Muahahah. Anyways, I want to thank all of you so much! You guys are my inspiration for writing this so....thanks! :)

  


My Choose Your Own Adventure website will be up soon!! 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. punished

Her heart beat wildly inside her chest as the train stopped in front of her house. No one was outside to greet her except the servants of her home. She watched as the King's servants prepared to leave and she then turned and walked into the house.

  


Silence. The silence was unbearable. A house with so many children should never be this quiet. She wanted someone to just get it over with and yell at her, but there was no one. 

  


One of the servants turned to Eden and said, "Your parents are waiting for you in the study. Go quickly." Eden turned to walk to the study, but then the servant grasped her arm.

  


"Good luck, Lady Eden," she whispered and then released Eden's arm and ran into the kitchen. Eden swallowed the panic rising in her throat and walked slowly to the study. 

  


The tall doors were closed. Her heart felt as if it would implode. Oh, was she going to get it....

  


The servant standing in front of the door opened it for her and she walked in to the room. The door slammed harshly behind her. She felt trapped.

  


Sun light poured into the room, making for a deceivingly cheery atmosphere. Sitting behind his wooden desk, her father sat, a grim look on his face. Her mother, with the same look, sat near him in a chair. Despite the sullen look on her face, she looked lovely. The sunlight played on her hair, making it seem like real shining gold and her pale face was striking against her green velvet dress. Her large blue eyes seemed transparent as she stared at Eden with a disappointing look.

  


"How was your stay at the palace, Eden?" her father asked. The grim look was gone and a warm smile had set in. 

  


"I...It....it.....was...it was...um....," she stuttered. What could she say? That despite all the work she had to do, she was starting to fall in love with a certain prince that her family detests? That she had a good time? That she was actually missing the palace, missing Legolas?

  


"It was awful," she finally said. 'There,' she thought, 'that would make them happy.'

  


Yet her father's face did not change.

  


"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, the same warm smile on his face. But despite this, she was growing more and more fearful and tears slid down her face.

  


Her father looked to her mother and nodded and then suddenly stood up and left the room. She stood alone, looking down at the floor, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Her mother stood up and embraced Eden in a most loving fashion.

  


"Eden, you have been through much," her mother crooned, "And your father and I realize that. Your punishment will not be harsh. I won't allow it. There now, child, shed no more tears."

  


"I'm sorry," sobbed Eden, "I'm sorry for everything." 

  


"I know, I know, " her mother laughed, " But you are safe now and that is all that matters. Your punishment will just be more chores, but there is something I have to talk to you about."

  


"Is that why father left?" asked Eden, sniffling. Her mother pulled away and went to sit down at her husband's seat. Eden sat down as well.

  


"I heard rumors from the palace about you," her mother said. "About you and Prince Legolas." Eden's heart seemed to stop. "They say he was in your room....unsupervised. Is this true?"

  


"Um.....yes, but-," Eden started but was interrupted.

  


"Eden, have I not warned you before of that family?" her mother sat up, her eyes angry, "Have I not told you countless times to stay away?"

  


"But mother I didn't do anything!" she cried and then swallowed hard as she prepared to lie to her mother, "I don't even know why he went into my room. When he walked in, he just started to insult me! I hate him, mother!"

  


Her mother looked surprised at first and then smiled. "Our friends do tell such silly tales," her mother laughed. "I knew you were smarter than that. I told them so." Eden felt the guilt bear down on her as she nodded her head and smiled. 

  


And so, Eden was given four months of labor. She was tired all the time and she had started to get very thin (or thinner than she was, if that was possible) and pale since she was always working inside the house and rarely left it. 

  


But then she was tired for other reasons too. She spent many long nights waiting for Legolas who never showed up. After three months, she had decided that it had all been a sick joke and she felt very upset.

  


After her punishment was over, she had the time to sit outside with her mother and take walks with her siblings. She started to eat well and gained some weight, or at least returned to her usual size. But she had changed somehow. Others had noticed it too. She was no longer gleeful and smiling as she was before and she started to isolate herself more and more in her room. 

  


One night, she stood in front of the mirror in her night gown.

  


'Ugh, I'm disgusting,' she thought for she envied all the other elf maidens who were voluptuous and had curves and some actual "meat" on them. She pushed her almost non-existent breasts into the air.

  


'Why are they so small!?' she whined. No matter how much she ate, she almost never gained any weight, except of course when she was doing the punishment, but that was her body's limit. She could get no "fatter" than that (A/N: lucky bitch).

  


She looked into the mirror once more and pushed her hair back. 

  


Suddenly, a gloved hand cupped her mouth and the other arm held her in place. She whimpered softly.

  


"Shhhh," Legolas whispered and then released her, laughing gently. 

  


"That was not very nice," Eden said in a hoarse whisper. She went over to her door and locked it. She turned around, her eyes narrowed at him. "So, Prince Legolas decides to bless me with his presence tonight....."

  


"Well, you were more or less under a very tiring punishment at all times for four months," he said. He then started to speak of how he managed to sneak out of a dinner party to see her, but she was not paying attention (A/N: she does this a lot, as you can see. She sort of spaces out when she looks at him sometimes, but then, who wouldn't?). His hair was pulled back in its usual way and golden strands danced across his shoulders. His skin was like pure milk and his eyes, still the same piercing blue, reflected the moon's light. He was wearing a black cloak and underneath that, very fancy clothing, proof that he had indeed been at a dinner party. His lips moved sensuously as he talked and his deep voice was soothing somehow. 

  


He seemed so warm, so inviting and yet cold and cruel at the same time, but then those were the characteristics of a King, were they not? (A/N: If you don't think so, read Machiavelli. Not everything he says is right, but the man makes sense). She wanted to wrap herself in those strong arms of his and never move for the rest of eternity.

  


She awoke from her stupor just in time, when he suddenly said, "I have missed you, Eden."

  


"Thank- I mean.....I have missed you as well, Legolas," she said, quickly, her eyes moving away from his. 

  


"And yet you do not seem happy to see me," Legolas said. Her eyes moved back up to his.

  


"It's not that," she sighed, "It's just that I thought that you didn't care anymore. I thought that you were only joking at the palace."

  


"I was not," Legolas reassured her, his footsteps were silent as he walked towards her and pulled her into him. She sighed and leaned her head back as Legolas' mouth worked its magic on her neck. This was the moment that she decided that she was definitely interested in boys. 

  


His mouth slowly moved up to hers, showering her with little kisses on the way. And when his mouth met hers and his tongue slipped into her mouth, she did not pull away or feel disgusted. The jaws of passion had captured her. 

  


But then his hands started to travel and her eyes shot wide open. He felt her tenseness and stopped, still holding her. His eyes flickered in restrained lust, as he searched her worried and frightened face.

  


She pulled herself from his grasp and he let go reluctantly.

  


"Did you come here to fondle me?" she snapped. "To have a cheap thrill at my expense? Perhaps my mother was right...."

  


"Eden, stop!" he cried, "I came here to be with you. If you're implying that this was planned then no, it wasn't. I wish that you could just trust me. What can I do to earn your trust?" 

  


'Oh those eyes of his,' she thought as she stared at him. They seemed to gleam even more now that he was upset. 

  


"It will take time," she said, "It will take much time."

  


"Then I will wait all eternity," he whispered and before she had a chance to answer, he swiftly disappeared through the window. She did enjoy all the romantic things he said, but often times it got very frustrating because then that made her think that she had to say romantic things as well and she simply could not make a good enough "romantic" statement that would match the caliber of his. Nevertheless, she promised herself that she would do so next time. If there was a next time, that is.

  


Legolas did not come back for months after that and Eden again started to feel the loneliness and emptiness and betrayal. 'He had indeed betrayed me,' she had thought, 'What a fool I am!'

  


But she was surprised to find him in her room when she came upstairs from supper. She quickly locked it and ran over to him...and punched him in the shoulder......hard.

  


"Oww," muttered Legolas, rubbing the place where she hit, "What was that for?"

  


"You are always doing this," she growled, "and then you dare ask why I don't trust you?"

  


"How easy do you think it is for a Prince to move around without being under the constant eye of his guards?" Legolas removed his boots and lay on her bed, looking out the window. "I had to run across tree branches to get here." Some of his blond hair sprawled across her pillows. 

  


Eden had put her hair down. She was wearing a simple blue elvish dress that reached slightly below her ankles. 

  


She walked over to her bed and straddled him. Now, this was not a sexual gesture in the least bit (although a certain someone might have taken it as such). Eden did not know what a sexual gesture was nor did she care. All she knew is that now she was sitting on him and he couldn't get up. 

"Legolas, what is it like to be in a battle?" she asked.

  


"Brutal, chaotic, horrible, too many words to describe it," he answered.

  


"Would you protect me if we were in a battle?" she asked, her innocent eyes staring down at his.

  


"You will not be in any battles," Legolas smirked.

  


"But if I was, would you?" she poked at his ribs and he jumped, grabbing her hands and smiling slightly.

  


"Of course I would," he said, "I'd protect you with my life. Why do you ask?"

  


"I was just wondering," said Eden. "I don't really need to be protected. I am a great warrior." 

  


"Is that so?" Legolas laughed.

  


"You dare doubt me?!" Eden started to tickle him once more, but their giggling and laughter was cut short by a knock on the door. 

  


"Eden?" her father's voice rang, "Eden, what are you doing?"

  


"Nothing father," she answered, "I was just reading a part of a book which made me laugh. Sorry if I was too loud!"

  


Her father laughed as well and walked away, reassured. Eden and Legolas burst into quiet laugher. 

  


Eden put a finger to Legolas' lips. He kissed it. "We will have to be extra quiet now, my Prince," she whispered. He pulled her down into a kiss, one that left her light-headed when she pulled back. She saw that somehow part of his shirt had come undone and a portion of his hard, muscular chest had been exposed. She pulled the rest of it back and traced her fingers on his stomach. He shivered.

  


"Did I come here to be fondled?" he smirked. Eden opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it again. He had a point. She was being a hypocrite. 

  


"Yes you did," she answered, stoutly. Legolas laughed and so did she.

  


'Alright Eden, be romantic,' she thought.

  


"The sky is beautiful," she said, looking out the window, and then added, "like your eyes."

  


It was now Legolas' turn to start laughing. "Thank you, Eden," he chuckled, "That's very nice of you to say." Eden punched him hard in the chest. 

  


"What!?" cried Legolas and started laughing again. 

  


"It's not funny," glared Eden, "I was trying to be romantic. You ruined it, you atrocious elf!"

  


Legolas held back laughter. "Beautiful creature, one does not makes attempts at being romantic," he said, holding her hands, "It comes naturally. Romantic words are words from the heart. It is your heart that should speak, not your mind. For if your mind does, then you will say things like what you just said to me." 

  


"Blast your intelligence," she whispered as she lay her head down on his chest, listening to his steady heart-beat. His hands stroked her hair. She took one of them and splayed it out in front of her, studying it's every curve, line, scar.

  


He had long delicate-looking fingers and perfect, well-manicured fingernails, as if he had never picked up a bow or sword in his life, as if his hands were untouched by blood and other disgusting things of the battle field. She knew they were very strong. He, himself, was very ancient and strong and if he wanted to, those hands could hurt, or even worse, kill her, but instead they were caressing her gently. Those same hands that have killed countless orcs where now running themselves through her hair and down her back and making her feel safe and loved.

  


"You know Legolas," she whispered, "I have never had a friend outside the family. I think you are the first."

  


No response came.

  


"Legolas?" she lifted her head. He was asleep. 

  


*********************************************************************

A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I don't know what the end will be like. I don't like writing drama scenes. They're annoying. "Oh Legolas/Eden/Father/Mother/King/Queen/ uncle of my mother's great aunt's niece, you're dead!!!" sob sob sob cry cry cry. It happens in too many stories on FF.net and Disney (heh) and frankly, it just gets too dull. But who knows, maybe I will give in. I am just soooo happy that everyone is enjoying the story so far. As for the title of the last chapter, I'm still thinking, but thanks for all the suggestions!!! *inexperienced kisses to all* ;-)

  



	12. together

"Legolas!" growled Eden angrily, poking Legolas hard in the ribs. He murmured something about being left alone and nodded back to sleep. Annoyed, Eden sat up on the bed. 'He could very well have stayed at the palace to sleep, not my house,' she thought as she walked over to the window to admire the forest outside her house. She looked over to her bed where the Prince slept.

  


His chest rose with every breath he took and he looked very peaceful. 'That son of a bitch,' she thought as she sat down to read from her book of elvish poetry.

  


Of course, she fell asleep. 

  


When she opened her eyes, Legolas was now where to be seen. In fact, she wasn't even in her room! She wasn't in any room! She was on the forest floor, alone and.......soaked??? 

  


'What the hell happened?' she wondered as she scrambled to her feet, whimpering softly. She could see the sun was setting. Where was she? Something compelled her to go north and so she did. To her delight, she saw her house and her grim expression turned to a jubilant one. But as she approached however, her mouth dropped open. Her parents were being evicted! Far to the right, she saw Legolas standing with a satisfied smirk on his face as he watched all their furniture and belongings being tossed out of the house carelessly. A tear rolled down her cheek. Somebody kissed it away. 

  


She opened her eyes once more. 'Oh thank goodness,' she thought, 'it was just a dream.'

  


Legolas held her gently in his arms. "You had a bad dream, but you are alright now," he whispered. She nodded. 

  


"Can you tell me what it was about?" he asked.

  


"No, no," Eden laughed feebly, "It was nothing. It was silly. Really, Legolas." And yet for the rest of the evening she could not get it out of her mind. What did that dream mean? Was it an omen? 

  


'I wish I wasn't so stupid,' she thought. 'Then I could actually understand things like this.'

  


But Legolas's voice and lips smoothed away her worries for the time being.

  


That night, Eden and Legolas confessed their unconditional love for each other. Due to legal reasons which this author cannot state, I have been asked to leave out the mushy details because frankly, this is a Mesopotamia production, not Disney or Lifetime. But what I can tell you is that they did make quite a few promises to each other, said they loved each other a few billion times more, and then spoke of a future together. They did not, however, speak of how that future would be made or of how each would tell their families about their love. Nevertheless, for that moment, there was true happiness.

  


Legolas could still sense that something was wrong and cradled her in his arms until she fell asleep..... again. He kissed her lips ever so gently before he left. 

  


She awoke the next day and went downstairs only to hear that there was another party at the palace and this time they would be spending a few night there, since her father had business with the King. This time while her brothers and sister groaned and pretended to be ill, she had a smile on her face and said, "If my dear parents wish it, I will go and be on my best behavior."

  


This stunned the whole family since Eden was usually the one to slam her head against the table or run away and hide when she heard that she had to go to the palace. She brushed out her hair and washed herself thoroughly and put on the most beautiful dress that she owned. It was long, red, made of the finest Mirkwood silk, and was quite snug ( and a little revealing). 

  


And so that night, her family set off to go to the palace. When they arrived, they walked to the dining hall and sat down. She could not see Legolas and she looked around frantically for him. After dinner, everyone went into the main hall to socialize and dance. 

  


Eden went outside to sit in the courtyard where Legolas had first touched her face. She, however, conveniently forgot that at the time he was being an (pardon my elvish) asshole.Funny how one forgets such things when they are in love. But nevertheless, she sat and waited.

  


He finally showed up and without a word, took her hand and led her around the palace to a corridor. It seemed endless and Eden gasped for breath as they started to climb up a staircase. 

  


"Legolas, where are we-," she started but he silenced her with a malevolent look. Pulling her closer, he whispered, "Do not speak. Someone will hear you and you will be in very big trouble."

  


She was confused why he was only addressing that she, and only she, would be in big trouble, but she nevertheless followed him silently. 

  


Finally they reached a door and when he opened it, Eden was taken aback. It was the most beautiful room she had ever seen, but she had seen his room and this was not his room. 'Well he is a prince,' she thought to herself, 'He probably has more than one room.'

  


"Very quiet,"he whispered, but this time he had encircled her and kissed her ear. "As silent as death itself."

  


"I didn't think death was-," she started, but he shhhhhhhhed her and she fell silent once more. 

  


He smiled and pulled her against him, his mouth sweeping down to capture hers. He felt and smelled and looked so wonderfully she wondered how she had gotten there in the first place. 'It was those blasted glasses!'she thought and she internally shook an angry fist at them for separating Legolas and her for as long as they did. 

  


But soon her thoughts were filled with the situation occurring in the majestically beautiful room and she felt Legolas start to move her forward, towards the enormous and inviting bed. With the help of a chest, she had crawled backwards up onto the bed, still facing him and him still only inches from her, until her head hit the wall and she cried "ow!" 

  


'Smooth and sexy as always, Eden,' a voice in her head said sarcastically. 

  


He smiled gently and reminded her to keep quiet. And so she lay down onto the bed and felt herself melt into Legolas as his perfect mouth kissed away her worries all the way down to her neck. His hands were also doing their part. One was on her hip and the other tracing circles around her nipple. She didn't know how he expected her to keep silent while he was doing this. 

  


He seemed to be smiling as if knowing that she was trying her best to keep silent, but he did note on her heavy breathing and how her heart beat had increased its pace. 

  


But all good things come to an end. And what an end it was, but you see, dear reader, it was not the kind of end you would expect from this kind of situation.

  


For when Legolas Greenleaf's "magical" hands had started to work their way under the dress of our little Eden Goldenlight, the evening was over. Eden pushed at him and Legolas, awakening from his passion, was quite surprised. Never in all his long years had anyone ever done this (A/N: this author sure as hell wouldn't!). 

  


"So you _were_ just trying to shame me," she whispered harshly as she crawled hastily off the bed, straightening out her dress, "And to think, I actually listened to all the things you told me. Love? Ha! What do you...what could you know about love? You have lived for centuries and you still have not experienced love. I knew what you were the first time I met you! You're a woman user! And once a woman user always a woman user! Goodbye, Prince Legolas." She ran out the door, down the stairs, down the corridor and right into.....Legolas?!

  


"What- how...how did you get down here so....ugh never mind!" she pushed past him, but he grabbed her arm.

  


"Eden, please listen to me," he pleaded.

  


"We've nothing to say to each other," she said, tears in her eyes,"You're a liar and a cheat and you took me for a fool! I'm not! And I will never do that.....that kind of thing with someone I'm not married to. I suggest you find yourself another whore." 

  


"Eden," he said, not letting go," Listen to me." He pulled her over next to a hedge. "I wasn't trying to shame you. That was not my intention. I.....I just love you. Please believe me. I would not have done anything you didn't want me to. Please, I am yours. Do with me what you will. Just don't leave me." He ended those words in almost a hushed whisper and his eyes, his soul, his entire body pleaded with her with all his might and she could see his struggle. Her heart sank and she fell into his arms.

  


"I will never leave you,"she whispered back, tears in her eyes, "But it is you who I fear will leave me, will betray me, and abandon me. Your rejection of me is my worst fear."

  


"Silly girl," he laughed softly, tilting her chin up towards his waiting lips, "I will never leave you."

  


And so they kissed again for the last time that night and went to the party, where they separated, afraid of raising suspicion.

  


The party was still going on and the night was young and just as Eden went to get herself another piece of cake, Rilma clutched at her arm. 

  


"Eden," she whispered loudly, "Come outside, please! Please come outside! Something terrible is happening!"

  


Eden followed Rilma to a sort of gathering of angry faces and rude comments. Her brothers were standing on one side with a few other elves and the king's sons (excluding Legolas) and also with a few other elves.

  


"What's going on here?" she ran towards Ritu, who was standing face to face with one of the King's sons. He looked like he was about to strike out at an minute. 

  


"Ritu," she said, quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder, "He isn't worth it. Remember what mother and father said. Step away from this like the mature one, like the stronger one. You are better than this."

  


Ritu's eyes turned to his sister and his look of rage passed from his face. "You're right," he said, "I am better than this. Thank you for reminding me, Eden." 

  


They both turned to leave, when suddenly one of the elves (Eden did not see who), grabbed her from behind and pulled her into him. She struggled in vain and then stopped. The elf only held her tighter the more she struggled and her vision was starting to blur. She managed to look up and see Ritu's face contorted in anger, trying to get to her and then she suddenly saw Legolas' face. 

  


Everything grew quiet as they looked at him. Even her brother's said nothing and just stared. Legolas was, after all, a future king. He had that power over people. She saw his eyes move to her, but they held no expression. They held no expression of the love and kindness that they held just an hour ago, when she was in his arms, when his lips were on hers. Instead, they were cold, heartless and cruel. A Legolas that she did not see very often these days. A Legolas that she did not like.

  


"My my," he smirked,"Quiet a little party we have here. Drinks," he grabbed the bottle of elvish wine that one of the elves on her brother's side held, took a drink, and gave it back, "Entertainment ," he patted his brother on the back and then walking over to Eden with a sensuous and cruel smile on his pale face, "and most important of all, women." He pulled her face up to him and roughly kissed her so that it actually hurt a little. It was a deep kiss and his eyes closed. Eden whimpered helplessly. Her brothers lunged forward, but were held back by their opposing side.

  


Legolas laughed. Eden heard it only faintly. Everything seemed to spin and she struggled to keep herself conscious and alert as her captor's grip held her in a deadly grip. 

  


"Please," she gasped, "Let go. I can't breath." But her captor merely laughed in her ear and held her tighter. She looked up at Legolas....or the Legolases. There were two of him now. This made things much more interesting....

  


But then he became one Legolas again. She heard him say, "You seem angry that I did that. What if I do it again?" And her face was lifted once more towards his, and she was kissed again in that harsh way. "Or what if I do this." Suddenly Legolas savagely grabbed her from her captor, his hand visibly on her waist, and kissed her in that frightful way again. Legolas laughed as she heard more struggle coming from where her brothers were. She felt Legolas pick her up and she looked up into his mocking and cruel (and yet strikingly beautiful) face. 

  


"I'll give her back to you fresh and new by tomorrow morning," he smiled cruelly and she heard her brothers cry her name, but when she looked up at Legolas and they were a good deal away from the fight, his expression was unchanged. He carried her back to the bedroom and lay her on the bed. When she opened her eyes again, he was sitting on a chair across the room, his fingertips pressed together, and he was looking at her. He looked angry. Very angry.

  


"What did you think you were doing getting into that sort of thing?" he asked, furious with her. "Do you realize what could have happened to you? Do you realize that if I hadn't been there, they would have...." He trailed off.

  


Her head ached horribly, but she managed to lift herself up to face him, but then the pain in her ribs struck her in such a way that she fell against the bed once more. 

  


"And have my brothers get hurt?" she scoffed, "I'd do anything to prevent them from coming to any harm."

  


"Your interference was not necessary," he growled, his eyes now a steel blue, "They would have fought for a few minutes and then they would have walked away. By interfering, you only pushed yourself into the situation and a lady should never be in any situation where there is a fight and men are drunk. You could have been very hurt."

  


"I am very hurt," she groaned, trying not to move. Her ribs hurt terribly. She felt him draw closer. His voice became soft once more.

  


"Where are you hurt?" he asked.

  


"Here," she motioned to her ribs, "That elf was holding me so tightly, I thought I was going to pass out."

She felt his fingers touch the bruised flesh and she whimpered. His eyes darkened once more.

  


"Do you see what I mean about you getting hurt?" he said. "Never do that again, Eden." 

  


"No problem," she groaned and then winced as he touched her ribs.

  


"Your ribs are badly bruised," he said, "I need to take you to the healing room to get the salve. Don't worry, we will go to the one that is not used too often." Eden nodded and she felt him left her gently off the bed and carry her....somewhere. After a few minutes, she felt herself being laid down on a cool table top. She opened her eyes and saw Legolas smiling down at her. He looked beautiful, ethereal. 

  


"Do you trust me?" he whispered. 

  


"Yes," she said and closed her eyes. Slowly and carefully, his hands worked to remove her dress, revealing her undergarments, her knee high underpants and a slip on top of that. His hands pulled the slip up and Eden opened her eyes momentarily, thinking that he would take it all off, but he did not. Instead, he pulled it high enough only to reveal her ribs, nothing more. The skin was already starting to discolor. 

  


Legolas fumbled around in one of the cabinets until he found what he was looking for. He put some of the salve in his hands and massaged her ribs. The close contact of his hands made her shudder slightly, but she did not open her eyes. She did not want to see Legolas' smile, nor confirm his suspicion that she was enjoying this, which of course she was, but she did not want him to know that. When he was done, she was (very) sorry that his hands moved away. He covered her back up again and she opened her eyes. 

  


"You will be better in a few hours," he said, caressing her cheek. 

  


"What will we do until then?" she smiled at him, mischievously. He seemed taken aback by her speech, but then laughed. 

  


"Whatever you wish," was his answer.

  


"Then let us go back to your room," she said and he picked her up once more and carried her back.

  


They talked for a few hours, her fingers purposefully driving him insane as they grazed his ears, his lips, his neck, his chest, his stomach, all while she spoke of her life. Those few hours seemed short and he soon got up and walked to window. She had healed pretty well and felt no pain as she got up.

  


He turned to her when he sensed her near him and his arms wrapped around her, drawing her closer than he had ever held her before, but with a gentleness that made her weak at the knees. Her lips sought his and found them as she started to draw him towards the bed. He stopped them.

  


"Are you sure?" he asked softly, in a lustful voice. "I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to."

  


"I want to," she whispered back (A/N: me too!!! *cries*). 

  


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A/N: WARNING: the next chapter will be R rated for obvious reasons. If you cannot understand those reasons, you should not be reading this and should tell your mommy to keep a better watch on you while you're on the internet because thanks to mommies like yours, we had a whole section of stories DELETED BECAUSE YOUR MOM CAN'T KEEP ONE FUCKING EYE ON YOU! Ahem...*regains composure* Anyways, I want to thank all my reviewers for...um....reviewing and liking my story. I'm really happy you guys like it and that you guys keep coming back for more. :) I'm trying to update as quickly as possible here so if I seem slow, sorry but as they say Rome wasn't built in a day and I hate it when my stories are all messed up because I didn't proofread and then people tell me there's something wrong. Again, thanks to everyone!

  


My Choose Your Own Adventure website is finished. I have finished the website, but not the story. Updates are posted on the website, not on FF.net. For some reason, I can't get the URL to show so please look on my main page for the URL. 

  



	13. amazing

**Pre-adult writing jitters**

Omfgosh crap..how am I going to do this??? I'm really not good at writing these things. But I'm going to try and make the best gosh darn luv scene this side of FF.net has ever seen....SIKE! A love scene is a love scene.....I'll do the best I can. Oh crap...I'm warning all of you: My love scenes are a bit weird at times.......leave now if you don't like the weirdness....you have been warned...if you get grossed out, it was your own fault......

  


*********************************************************************

  


Legolas had stopped them again before they reached the bed.

  


"Once more before I can't stop myself," he breathed, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

  


"Once more I say yes, my Prince," she whispered into his ear. 

  


He lay her down gently on the soft bed and she felt the most comfortable she had ever been. His weight felt nice and his warmth and scent had livened up her senses, making her want him even more. He seemed so majestic to her. The perfect, pale, statue-like features of his face made his eyes seem like embedded sapphires, staring down at her intensely. And then those eyes were shut and his lips were on hers. 

  


Carefully and delicately, his lips traveled from her mouth down to her neck where his teeth nipped at the nape of it. His kisses trailed to the side of her neck where he bit down slightly, relishing in hearing her gasp, and tasted warm coppery salt on his tongue, her blood (A/N: I'm sorry! I promised all of you that I would try and make this fic as NORMAL as possible, but I can't help it..sorry sorry sorry! I promise it won't go on for much longer...alright no I don't...sorry! I warned you up there so turn back now if you get grossed out). 

  


His hands had pinned her thin wrists down above her head, although it was unnecessary. Not only because she wouldn't know what to do, but also for the simple fact that she was under his spell. He looked upon her as if she was prey and he had her pinned down, looking down at her, ravenous. The feeling of power, control, surged through him. The King in him reigned. He had begun to take off her dress, while his mouth distracted her from the work of his fingers, like a toy that an animal was to play with while the butcher sharpened his knife. Her mouth pressed deeper into his as one strong, quick hand captured both her wrists while other one went down to her breast. 

  


If Eden was observant, or capable of thought for that matter, she would have observed that Legolas was using the quickness that a warrior would use for warfare....or a hunter would use on his prey. She moaned softly, as his thumb lightly grazed her nipple and he nipped gently at her lower lip. 

  


With even more swiftness, he had taken off her slip and his own shirt, and he now lay on top of her, her small breasts pressing into him as his mouth brought on a brutal assault on hers. She fought back too of course, but he was very strong, very experienced and he overpowered the will of her mouth and set it to his. He held her tightly against him, trailing his fingertips down her back, up her stomach, down her stomach, across her chest. How he was doing this she did not know. What he was doing she did not know either, but what she did know was that whatever he was doing and how he was doing it brought her a tremendous amount of pleasure.

  


She suddenly felt as if she had awakened from a surreal dream when she felt his hands on her hips and his thumbs hooked in edges of her lower undergarment. He seemed to sense her fear and uncertainty as her body became tense and he looked at her with lust-filled azure eyes. Her own eyes, also full of lust, looked back at him, but they were frightened and pleading.

  


"It's alright,' he whispered. "Everything will be alright. Trust me." He brushed a few strands of hair from her face and kissed her and then pulled back again, his lips barely touching hers.

  


"Don't you trust me?" his eyes bore into her own and she nodded.

  


"I trust you, Legolas," and with those accepting words, he made her his once more, engulfing her mouth with his. His thumbs pulled the underwear off, but she did not relax. She was still tense, apprehensive, but he would change her mind. He smiled as he thought this.

  


His mouth went down to her neck again and then traveled south once more until he was feeding (A/N: not literally!) on one of her nipples. He took it gently into his mouth, using his tongue, as well as his teeth, to make her moan softly. She arched into him as she held his head to her breast, her chest rising and falling, and he rising and falling with it. He did likewise to the other nipple and she only held him closer. 

  


He moved down once more. (A/N: Wow. I must be getting annoying, interrupting between all their scenes.....oh well anyways..I have never written an..um....scene for oral pleasure..or at least one that is performed on a woman., but I hear many good things about it and do not doubt it is a pleasurable experience. My lack of experience, however, does not permit me to go into great detail so I'll do the best I can) His tongue probed her inner depths, almost bringing her over the edge, but no, not yet, he decided, not this way. 

  


He was enjoying himself very much, but as he brought himself up to her and kissed her once more, he suddenly pulled away and looked down at her. She was completely his. Sweat shone on her body as she caught her breath, looking up at him with lust-filled eyes. 'This is the only time in our existence that I will ever let you catch your breath,' he thought, 'Breath while you can, beautiful one.' Finally, taking her all in through his eyes, he drew himself in for another kiss.

  


"Relax," he instructed, caressing her cheek. "Just listen to what I say and you will be feeling more pleasure than you have ever felt in your entire life. Relax." He felt her do so in his arms. He did not bother to take off his pants, but merely unbuttoned the front.

  


He entered her slowly, one hand on her hip to steady himself and the other entwined with her hand. He heard her breath in sharply and then sigh. 

  


There was pain for a few seconds and then Eden felt very nice. Wait, nice doesn't describe it. Amazing. Yes, that's it. 

  


She wanted it to last forever, but it didn't. A new force took her, more powerful than anything she had ever felt before. A scream caught in her throat and she felt waves of pleasure swallow her. She heard Legolas whisper her name as he too succumbed to the pleasure. All she could do was cling to him as he clung to her. And then she felt as if she was finally awake and she felt him kiss her. She closed her eyes.

  


When she finally woke up, the room was filled with light. She turned her head to Legolas, who lay beside her, his chest rising with every breath he took. His hair was spread out on the pillow and his perfectly sculpted face held a deceiving innocence. She pulled the blanket up to cover her chest and then saw Legolas' eyes flutter open. 

  


He smiled as they set on her and he moved over to her, resting on his elbow and kissed her gently. She felt herself drawn into his arms. 

  


"Legolas?" she asked.

  


"Hm?" his head turned to her.

  


"Why did you not go to Valinor with your mother?" she asked. Legolas' eyes seemed to glaze over.

  


"You really don't hear much do you?" he said, softly. "Haven't you ever heard what Lady Galadriel said to me? 'Legolas Greenleaf, long under tree, In joy thou hast lived, beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.'" Eden gaped at him.

  


"I don't understand," she said (A/N: Big surprise there,huh?). Legolas smiled.

"It means that someday I will answer the call of the Undying lands," he said, dreamily and then sighed, "But my time has not yet come."

"Oh," Eden nodded, "But why haven't all the elves left when they were supposed to? I mean, I know there are no more ships, but..."

"There are more ships," he said.

"No, the last ship carried Lady Galadriel and Elrond and-," she was cut off again.

"There are more ships," he said, more firmly this time. "My father and a few others will be on the next ship. It will leave soon. I don't know when, but it will. And also Eden, one can easily build a grey ship by themselves. It doesn't require the whole species to make one. What's with the sudden questions?"

"What if I was to leave with them?" she whispered. Legolas was silent. He then turned to her and stroked her cheek.

"I won't let you," he whispered. "I'll never let you go." Eden smiled and fell into his embrace. 

After a while, both hungry, they dressed and walked down to the dining hall, separating as they walked in. She sat down next to Ritu who jumped out of his seat as soon as he saw her. At that moment, she was dragged out of her chair and hugged so hard she thought she would pass out.

"Eden, are you alright?"

"What happened?" 

"Did he hurt you?"

"If that bloke even lay a hand on you, I swear I'll.."

Eden managed to wrestle away from them. "I'm alright," she laughed. "Nothing happened. He was bluffing. He locked me in a closet all night. All talk no action." They all laughed and rejoiced and then looked to their parents who sat glaring at them. They quieted down and sat to eat breakfast. Eden looked to where Legolas was sitting. He was not looking at her, but instead talking and laughing with his brothers about something. One of his brothers slapped him on the back, laughing. Then they all looked at her. Eden quickly looked away and after finishing her breakfast, her and her brothers and sister ran out of the dining hall and into the woods. 

As they walked in the woods and laughed, Eden did not feel happiness. 'What were they laughing about?' she wondered, 'Why did they all look at me?'It tore at her. It made her stomach churn. Rilma grabbed her hand.

"What's wrong, Eden?" she asked, looking up at her. Eden smiled and shook her head.

"Nothing, my dear, nothing," she whispered, "Everything is perfect."

They walked for hours, talking and laughing, until the sun started to set below the trees. They then walked back to their rooms. Eden decided that she was going to sneak to Legolas' room when they escorted her to her room. They were still afraid that Legolas might show up. She walked in and closed (A/N: thanks to Tiffany for helping me to correct this error!) the door behind her. She turned to see Legolas sitting at her desk, reading her book of elvish poetry.

"Wind swept luxury of the Anduin, setting the face of beauty, the sun, the moon, an endless dream...," Legolas read. "Very good stuff." Eden leaned against the door.

"Did you tell your brothers?" she asked, softly. He closed the book and looked at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Did you tell your brothers about us?" she asked again.

"Did _you_ tell _your _brothers about us?" he retorted angrily.

"Well no, but..," she started.

"Then why would you think I told mine?" he moved towards so fast that she was startled to see him right in front of her, "Eden, you need to learn to trust me. If you can't trust me, then I see no future for us." She nodded and the fear of him leaving her seized her. She took his hand with both of hers.

"I'm sorry, Legolas," she said. "I was just scared. I do trust you. I........it was stupid of me to even think that you would do such a thing because I know you wouldn't. I'm so sorry." He embraced her lovingly.

"It's alright," he said, "I just want your trust Eden. I want you to trust me like I trust you."

And just as they were about to kiss once more, five of her brothers rushed in her room. 

"Hey Eden we were wondering if....,"but they trailed off as they saw what was happening. Their mouths dropped open and they stood frozen., in shock.

Legolas, his brain working quickly, kissed Eden harshly on the mouth and then spun her around so that she was still held rather tightly against him but facing her brothers and a dagger was pressed to her neck. The look on her face was that of surprise, not shock or fear, but her brothers did not notice that. 

They all stood in silence, staring at each other. Finally, Ritu spoke up.

"What the hell is going on here?" he growled. "Why don't you go pester somebody else? Leave our sister be!" He took several steps forward and Legolas pressed the knife closer to Eden's neck. She made a sharp intake of breath. Ritu stopped.

"Right," Ritu said, calmly, "We'll just be telling everyone about this."

"Close the door," Legolas ordered. Nitu closed it and Ritu turned around and cursed Nitu's cowardice. "You will tell no one or I will spread worse rumors than what you tell of me. I will tell everyone who urinated in the fountain last year. I will tell everyone who broke that vase that belonged to Lady Galadriel. I know many things and as for the things that I do not know, I can find out in a heartbeat. Is that understood?" 

"Let my sister go," Ritu said through gritted teeth. "This is obviously between you and me, Prince Legolas. Leave my sister out of this."

"Are you that arrogant as to think that I care about you that much?" laughed Legolas, "Your existence means nothing to me. Consequently, neither does hers. Although....,"he traced the knife down the nape of her neck. "She is a pretty one....and copper hair....rarely seen on elves...more of a human trait. So human," he whispered, his warm breath on her ear, " so defenseless, so fragile. I could break her in half like a twig. But I see no reason to have dirt blood on my hands. I had enough of that during the wars. Now, you were interrupting us. Please leave." Eden closed her eyes and she wished at that moment that she was deaf. Of course, Legolas had not meant those things, but...........his words had hurt her. 

"You will not hurt my sister!" roared Ritu, blood rushing to his pale face. 

"I will do as I please," smirked Legolas, an arrogant tone in his voice. "Now leave."

"I will leave as long as you promise to bring her to no harm," Ritu said, "Be it physical OR mental."

"Sure," said Legolas, voice dripping with sarcasm, "leave...right now...before I turn on my promise." Ritu slowly backed away and he and his brothers walked out the door. 

"Watch your back, Prince Legolas," he hissed before he slammed the door. Legolas released her and locked the door, holding up the key to her. 

"Learn to lock your door next time we're together like this, Eden," he glared. She nodded and looked down at the ground, still upset. He took her in his arms and held her once more. 

"You know I meant none of it," he whispered. "Those were just things I had to say." 

"Legolas, they are getting suspicious," said Eden, "They will figure us out soon. Everyone will. We must do something." Legolas sighed and walked away from her and sat down on her couch. 

"What do you propose we do?" he muttered. "This isn't exactly an everyday situation that one can just walk through. Our future depends on this. If anyone were to find out about you and me....." He trailed off. She turned towards him, an angry look on her face.

"You and me," repeated Eden, "You say it as if it was blasphemous."

"It is to everyone else," said Legolas, "Eden, don't you see what our exposure could mean to your parents...to mine?"

"Is that all you care about?" Eden asked, getting annoyed, "Are the opinions of others that important to you? Why can't we just run away together, escape from all of this?" She walked to the window, putting her head in her hands. Legolas turned her around and grasped her shoulders.

"You have no idea, Eden, what responsibilities I have" he said, his eyes the color of a frozen lake, "When my parents leave I will be King and before that happens I have to choose a bride. Then, I have to produce an heir, another King and all at the same time I have to protect my kingdom and make it flourish." Eden looked down.

"I can never be that bride," she whispered. "I see it now, Legolas."

"Eden, don't say such things," he said. "I couldn't imagine having anyone beside me at the throne other than you. We will find a way to be together. We must." Eden nodded. 

Legolas smiled down at her and drew her in for (yet another) passionate kiss. Eden waved goodbye to him as he climbed out of the window. She walked to Ritu's room and opened it. All her siblings were sitting and all suddenly grew quiet as they turned to see her. 

"Eden," Ritu stood up, "What the hell is going on?"

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A/N: hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! It took me a while to write because of the love scene. I'm really not great at those. It always seems so awkward writing those things, especially when it's in a bed. ;-D As for the question of Eden's age or maturity age, Eden is barely two hundred years old and her limited access to other elves besides her siblings has caused a sort of lack of maturity in her so she basically has the maturity age of a teenage girl (16-17 and now maybe older since she got some booty). She is basically still a baby compared to Legolas who is said to be several thousand years old. As for the question of Legolas's mum, she was never truly mentioned because Tolkien only talked about Legolas's lineage from his father. His mummy didn't seem to be so important and I felt bad for her because everyone's mum is just as important as the dad (maybe even more) so I decided that she went to the Grey havens with a few other of the royal family's relatives. I'm trying to keep this as close to the book as possible, but since Tolkien left a lot of blank areas, what he left blank I get to fill it in. So there. :-P So thank you everyone for reading and I hope you all enjoyed this!


	14. in your arms

"What do you mean 'what the hell is going on?'" Eden laughed weakly, "Nothing is going on. Wait....going on with what?"

"I think you know perfectly well, "spat Ritu.

"Well I obviously don't.," said Eden, "So would you be so kind as to inform me of what I'm being accused of doing?"

"Something is going on between you and that brat Prince," he said, "Did not mother already have this conversation with you?"

"I know nothing of what you speak," she said, sounding very offended, "I have no relationship with the Prince and I think it quite ghastly that you would accuse me of such a horrendous and...and blasphemous thing."

"Eden," Nitu stood up, "You can tell us. I mean, we're family and-"

"And you should stop whatever is happening and stay away from him," said Ritu.

"What I do is none of your damn business," Eden said, angrily.

"Aha!" exclaimed Ritu, a smile forming on his reddened and angry face, "So you admit that you were doing something with the Prince!"

"I admitted no such thing!" cried Eden. "I....I....oohh..You know...you...you...."

"Yeeeees?" he laughed.

"Oh shutup!" she cried. "I was doing nothing and we are not together and I hate him!"

"Eden, how stupid do you think we are?" Ritu stood up and started to walk around her. "Whenever you are gone, he is gone. Whenever he is somewhere, you are at the same place and vice versa. He takes you up to his bedroom just to stick you in a closet all night? He is in your room just to threaten you with a dagger right before he kisses you and he does not even have the dagger out when he does so and now you just walk into this room as if nothing happened? Come on Eden, give your siblings a little more credit." Eden looked at him, her eyes wide with shock Everyone in the room was quiet and staring at her. It was the most uncomfortable silence she had ever experienced.

She was caught and she knew it and he knew it and everyone in the room knew it.

"Have you told anyone else?" she asked, her quivering voice almost a whisper.

"No," said Ritu, "Not yet." Suddenly he picked up a glass of water and threw it across the room. It shattered into many pieces and water was all over the wall and floor. Her siblings stared at Ritu with wide eyes and slightly open mouths. Eden flinched.

"And to think that I was actually worried!" he screamed. "To think that I thought he did something horrible to you! To think that I promised myself that night that I could never live with myself if he did anything to you because I couldn't stop it! But it was all an act! A stupid fucking act! You played us for fools, Eden! Your own family! And for what? For that bastard Prince who hates you just as much as he hates us? Whose only goal is to shame us and you....you just fucking fell for it!"

"It wasn't like that!" Eden cried. "You don't understand. He-"

"Oh," laughed Ritu cruelly, "He told you that he loved you. He talked of a future. He took you up to that secret room of his. He told you that the problems between your families don't matter. He probably even promised you a seat beside him on his throne. Stupid little idiot! You fell for it all, didn't you? All of his lies! And now what are you going to say? That he wasn't like that? That he's different around you? You are so naive Eden. This is what happens when you don't have any friends." He laughed again. His laughter filled the silent room. "And he knew you never had any friends. He knew everything about you. You're the perfect target Eden. The Prince, he's brilliant."

"What do you want me to do?" whispered Eden, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Stop seeing him, "said Ritu, "Stop talking to him, stop writing him letters, stop all communication and anything else that has to do with him."

"Eden we're only trying to help you," said Nitu softly. She nodded.

"I won't see him anymore," she whispered. "Just please, don't tell mother and father." Ritu's laugh almost chilled her very blood.

"Too late," he said, harshly. "Now, I suspect you know the way to your room. Go there now and think about what we've said. And don't leave until we come to get you." 

She turned around to leave when Ritu said, "Oh and one more thing, "he added, "Don't let Legolas in your room and expect mother and father to come and talk to you sometime tomorrow. Good night now."

Eden ran out of the room and down the hall to her room. Locking the door behind her, she fell into her bed and sobbed fretfully. Why was this happening to her? Should she believe Ritu or Legolas? The thing that really got to her was the fact that Ritu knew what Legolas had said to her and where he took her. How did he know? 

She got up and washed her face in the basin and then walked over and picked up her book of poems. Many of them were love poems that she would recite to Legolas when they were alone and they were so beautiful and romantic and made their love seem even more surreal and wonderful than it already was. 

Legolas was almost at the level of a god to her. He was ancient and yet still held the beauty of someone who had just reached the tender age of 21. The only way to tell his true age was to look in his eyes. They held his wisdom, his happiness, his pain, and other assorted things that come with living for several thousands of years. He was so beautiful to her and she cherished the fact that out of all the beautiful noble maidens of Mirkwood, he had set his eyes on her. Her, who was barely 200 years old, her, who was not the brightest nor the prettiest. 

But another thought went into her head. 'What if Ritu was right?' she thought. 'I mean, it makes no sense why he would choose me to dote on unless there was another reason.' Her stomach churned at the idea and she felt nauseous. There was nothing special about her and she knew it. She was just a skinny elf maiden with eyes and hair that were not even of elvish kind! 

And this, dear reader, was the moment when Eden Goldenlight started to love Legolas even more. "What the hell?" you say? Well, it's true so be quiet and stop cursing my story. ;-) For Eden, who was overlooked her whole life, had believed that she had finally found her Prince Charming.....literally....except for the fact that his name was Legolas...and not Charming, although he was quite charming when he wanted to be....Anyways, the very idea that he loved her despite her many imperfections made her ecstatic. She knew he loved her. She was so sure, despite what anybody had said and she swore to herself that she would never give up hope for their future.'This is true love!' she thought, 'We are destined to be together!' 

She opened the book of poems and on one of the pages, there was a small note stuck in between. It was on the page of a poem that talked of dark matters, of cruelty, of evil. She opened the note and read it aloud. 

"Eden

tonight after dinner

behind the stables

don't bring anyone with you

we need to talk

- Legolas"

She reread it over and over, feeling apprehensive. The note was so impersonal. It had no "my dearest" written before her name and it had no "all my love" or "love always" or just plain "love" before his name as he usually wrote. She could tell that this was serious and her heart sank. She put down the note and started to read the poem that it was on. 

"Shadows swarm around my head, wake and prod me to hell's delight, the moon has risen to bespell, and curse the sun's forbidden light...," she trailed off and sat alone in the onslaught of darkness until a knock was heard at her door and her siblings were outside. She quickly changed into another dress and went outside to meet them. She was not greeted, but simply pushed along. 

After dinner, she had stood up to go the stables, trying to be as discreet as possible, but instead ran right into Nitu whose sad eyes gazed lazily at her. 

"Where are you going, Eden?" he asked.

"To my room," she answered quickly.

"Tell the truth, please," Nitu said, his soft voice rising a little. She sighed. She could never lie to Nitu.

"I need to go talk to him," she whispered. 

"Eden," he started but she interrupted.

"Please, it's very important," she pleaded, "Something bad might be happening. Please I beg of you!" Nitu sighed and took off the cloak that he wore.

"Just.....be careful Eden,"Nitu said. Eden smiled and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Thank you Nitu,"said Eden and pulling the hood of the cloak over her head, she ran to the stables. 

Legolas was standing up very straight, gazing at the moon. He too wore a long cloak but its hood was down, revealing his golden hair. He stood very still and for a moment he truly looked like a statue to her. His pale features seemed to glow in the pale moonlight as he turned to look at her with emotionless eyes. 

"You wanted to talk to me?" she said, her eyes avoiding him. 

"Yes," he said. He walked over to her so that he was standing very close. She could smell the scent of the forest on him. 

"Is it about how everyone knows about us?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"Yes," he said.

"And are you going to tell me now that we can never be together and that we should see each other no more?" Eden asked, her voice now rising slightly. He said nothing.

"Legolas?" she looked up at him. 

"I'm sorry, Eden," he said, those blue crystals saddening. "It is something we must do....something I must do. If it were up to me, we would be together for all eternity but it is not my choice. I must think of the fate of the kingdom."

"And I interfere with the fate of the kingdom?" Eden stepped away from him, her voice quivering as tears struggled to reach her eyes. And yet she could not cry. Something would not allow her to cry. 

"It is much more complicated than that," he said. 

"Then explain it to me," she cried, "Or am I too stupid to understand?"

"Eden please...,"he turned around and started to walk away, but she ran in front of him and blocked his way, pushing his shoulder but he was much stronger than she and he did not move.

"I may not be the best and most perfect person in this kingdom or...or even the whole of Middle Earth," her voice quivered with every word, "But I have a heart and I deserve a better explanation!" she was screaming now, "Tell me, Legolas! Tell me before you leave me!" Alright, now she could cry. And cry she did. Eden felt as if her heart had been ripped open. Embarrassed, she turned away from Legolas, her hood falling off her head. 

"I was so stupid," she whispered, "So stupid."

"I love you Eden," he said, "I always will. Do not think I feel nothing about this. I feel the same as you, maybe worse. Do you think you are the only one who suffers in this? This is not my decision. What other explanation can I give you?"

"Then why do you not show it?" she turned around, "Why does your face hold no expression, as if you could care less about what is happening!"

"Is that it Eden?" he said, softly, "You would like to see me cry? Well, I haven't enough tears for what's happened. And you, with your tears, are just making it harder for the both of us."

"I always knew you would be the one to leave me," she whispered hoarsely, "But I never knew you would choose such a cowardly way! Goodbye indeed, Prince Legolas! I hope I didn't waste my lord's time." She turned and started to walk away when he grabbed her, spun her around, and kissed her. 

It was so passionate that she felt herself melt in his arms, although she tried her very best not to.

"Goodbye, Lady Eden," he said when suddenly he drew away and calling to his horse, he galloped away into the night. Eden sat against the stables. She did not know what to do. The taste of his mouth still lingered in hers, his scent was still on her, his touch still left invisible hand prints on her body that only she could see. After crying a bit more, she got up and walked to her room where Nitu stood outside, welcoming her with open arms and comforting her.

**********100 years later***********

Eden awoke to screaming. Screaming and yelling and crying. 

'What the hell is going on?' she thought as she quickly got out of bed, getting dressed. 

A century had passed since that day where her heart was ripped into pieces and she was now a slightly different Eden. She was much quieter, no longer talked to anyone. Her eyes held a deep sadness and no more of the vivacity and life that they once held only a year ago. She no longer whined.

Her physical appearance did change slightly as well. She was prettier now, slightly anyways, but her slim figure stayed after many failed attempts to eat more food. Her hair was now down to her hips. She never put it up anymore.

As she ran downstairs to find out what was going on, she saw her mother crying and her father holding her. Her brothers and sister stood by gloomily. 

"What happened?" she asked. No one turned to look at her or answer her. A scroll was shoved into her hands. Her eyes widened as she read more and more of the letter. It was a call for them to go fulfill their civil duties to the kingdom. All of the older children had to go, including Eden. 

*******a month later*******

Eden packed up Sumo and rode out with her brothers to the palace that morning. They were to go into more intense military training, while she......she had to be the thing she hated being worst....a maid. 

'I couldn't have been a gardener or a cook or a nanny or...or....anything else besides a maid!' she thought.

She said her good-byes to her brothers as they went their separate ways, for the training grounds were a few miles away from Thranduil house and they had their separate barracks over there. Eden did not know when she would see her brothers nor how long the service was. She dismounted her horse and walked up the steps to the palace, ignoring the stares of everyone who eyed her wistfully.

She kept her head down and walked to the main hall where she was given her schedule and room. As she walked into the well furnished room, her heart wrenched. It had been the same room she had stayed in last time she was at the palace. She took a few steps forward. She was now standing in the very spot where Legolas had held her and told her he loved her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

"Only memories," she whispered.

As she started her duties (which thankfully did not include the Prince's room), she did them very quickly and was done before the day was over. She decided to ride around on the palace grounds. It was quite safe and she had not been riding in a while. She mounted Sumo and set off, but she did not get very far when suddenly an arrow narrowly missed her. She sat on the saddle breathing in deep, very thankful that the arrow missed her. Or was she?

She felt someone touch her hand and she drew it back quickly. She looked down into two silvery blue pools. For a moment she said nothing until he spoke.

"Are you alright?" Legolas asked. His eyes were so very caring. 

"I'm fine," she said coldly and then set off into a gallop into the forest. When she finally stopped, she breathed in the cool air.

"How have you been Eden?" his voice made her head swim. How did he do that? How could he make her feel that way after all he had done to her, after all these long years? 

"I've been better," she muttered, moving Sumo along. He caught up with her in almost a second.

"Doing your civil service here?" he asked.

"Yes, why else would I be here?" Eden bit off. "Certainly not by my own choice." He said nothing as they continued to ride slowly side by side.

"Is there anything you need, highness?" she asked, sounding annoyed. Legolas opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by his brothers crashing into the scene. They all had bows and quivers slung across their backs and Eden noticed they had changed slightly. Their demeanor was now calm and cool instead of just rude and obnoxious. 

"Well if it isn't Lady Eden," said one of Legolas's brothers snidely, "Enjoying your stay at the palace? I doubt it is much fun though you are no longer sharing a bed with my brother." 

"Stop it, Elothdir" said Legolas softly, looking away.

"And you really thought he loved you," laughed his other brother who trotted his horse up to Eden and started to circle her, watching her, examining her. She could feel his eyes on places they had no business being. "I never knew you were that stupid. All beauty and no brains huh? Well actually not that much beauty either. Although...My, my..how you have grown..."

"Enatan!" said Legolas, cooly, "That is quite enough."

Eden had never been more furious in her life, although she did not show it. She gave them a good cold glare and pulling at the reins, galloped off, deeper into the forest. 

She stopped finally, leaping off her horse and walking around, stretching out her legs, and she suddenly felt the pain again. For so long she tried to forget it, to make herself numb, but the very sight of him had ripped open the wounds of the past once more. 

And all the things his brothers had said....

Were they true?? Were they? She had no way of finding out. But inside she knew that he probably told them that so he wouldn't have to tell them that he loved her...if he loved her, that is.

"Eden, please don't walk away from me," a gentle voice pleaded. 

'What the..,' thought Eden, 'How does he find me!??!.....and so quickly!!!' But she did not turn around to face him.

"I believe it is you who walked away from me, your highness,"she emphasized the last part. "If I am remembering correctly, that is."

"It was something that had to be done,"he said, softly. She said nothing.

"But..," he continued, "I still love you Eden. I always will."

"Oh come off it!" she turned to face him, "Love me? Why would you hurt someone that much if you loved them? Why would you not even tell anyone the truth like I did? At first, I didn't see it, but now I do. You are incapable of loving anyone but yourself, highness. I know that now and I would greatly appreciate it if you stop reminding me why my heart was torn to pieces." She began to walk to her horse when Legolas moved in front of her very quickly.

"Yes," he said angrily, "I do love you. I always have. You think I felt no pain?" He had now started to move forward, and she backed away as he came closer. "You think I felt nothing when I knew that I would never get to touch you, to kiss you, to comfort you ever again? To know that I hurt to you that much, you think I felt nothing? Is that what you think?"

His eyes were angry and became an almost violent shade of blue. Eden could only look back at him, a bit afraid and a bit upset and surprised. He moved closer still but this time she could not move back. She felt the rigidity of a tree on her back. 

"Well you're wrong," he said finally, but in a softer tone. 

Oh here she was again. Her mind grew dizzy and covetous as he leaned in to smell her hair and then his nose moved to her neck. She could smell his scent as well, of fresh air, spice, and the forest. She hadn't smelled that familiar scent for 100 years. 

She could feel his breath on her neck and gasped as his lips collided with it. Then she pushed at him.

He pulled back. 

"There is only pain when I am with you," she said, tears filling her eyes. "We have nothing Legolas. You said it yourself. Just get married already. Just get married to a beautiful, intelligent, vuluptuous, blonde, blue-eyed elf maiden who worships the very ground you walk on. That shouldn't be too hard to find."

"And what if I want you?" he asked. She bit her lip. 

"You said it yourself," she said, "You can't have me, no matter what you want."

"But I did have you," he smiled mischievously, pulling her to him, "in my arms, in my bed."

"You know what I mean!" she said. "Oh, how can you joke about this?!"

"Because now that I see you, I know that there is hope for us yet!" he said, holding her to him. "I tried to block you out of my mind. I tried everything. I thought that everything would be alright if 

I never saw you again but it is as if you are always with me. Your image haunted my every step. I couldn't stop thinking about you. For the past 100 years, you were all I thought about. You still are and just to have you here in my arms now is like a dream. I am dreaming. I must be."

"Ummmm, well that's really romantic and all, but let's not forget that you completely broke my heart," she said, pushing him away once more, "I knew all those things that took you 100 years to learn! I knew them 100 years ago and I know them now. And although, I still love you, I'm still a little upset with you."

"But you love me," said Legolas.

"Well, yes but...," she started.

"Oh darling, I love you too," he interrupted, holding her close against him. She sighed. 

Laughing, he said, "I hear you and I understand. I know it will take time, but I am glad that you forgive me. You do forgive me, don't you?"

"Yes, yes, I forgive you," she said, "But I'm still angry."

"That's good enough for me," and so they kissed under the trees and under unnoticed glaring eyes.

**********************************************************************

A/N: Sorry it took so long! I couldn't figure out what to do. Hope you all enjoyed it!.....and understood it! :-D And yes I know, I know, the part where she was all like "tell me before you leave me!" I stole it from IWTV but I thought it would fit well into this story!

BTW: Eden has human blood in her from a very distant relative, but has the eye and hair color that has not really been passed down through many generations of her family, but appeared in her, thus giving her a more human than elf-like appearance.


	15. mo drama fo yo mama

Weeks had passed since their reunion under the trees. Legolas had to sneak in to her room to see her, but when he did she was the happiest elf in all of Mirkwood, except of course for Happy Nafora, who so happened to be quite insane.

And of course, Eden was very happy to have him back, but something bothered her after a while. His embraces were less warm and few and his eyes were so cold and betrayed nothing when they settled on her. He stopped coming to see her as frequently as he used to. He never made love to her anymore and she was lucky just to get a peck on the cheek. He was also quite curt with her and snapped at her incessantly, as if she was some small, troublesome child. But worst of all, he would mock her and tease her and ironically, she loved him and doted on him even more so (why does this always happen?). But he hurt her greatly and she could feel the pain in the pit of her stomach.

She decided she would attempt to talk to him next time she saw him. Yet, she did not expect it to be so soon. That afternoon, Eden walked down the guest quarters, quite exhausted from cleaning.

She walked into her room and slumped into her chair, letting her hair down and smoothing a damp cloth over her exposed neck

"How have you been?" he asked. She almost jumped. His voice surprised her and she stood up. She wanted to run to him and throw her arms around his neck, but somehow she felt as if she was not in the place to do such a thing anymore. She merely smiled weakly and he smirked back. He was looking like his usual amazing and perfect self. The top portion of his golden hair was tied back while the bottom portion hung straight and fine down his back....his muscular back (roar). His face was set in its now usual cold expression as his eyes raked over her body. She felt raw.

"Oh, fine, just fine," she said, "How about you?" She leaned against the door. They were 6 feet apart.

"Never been better," Legolas answered. Eden felt dread as she urged herself to speak.

"I need to talk to you about something," she managed to say. Her heart beat wildly. 

"Oh?" an elegant eyebrow arched.

"It's about the way you have been acting....have been treating me and.....umm...and," her eyes drifted off of his. He moved towards her so quickly, she could only gasp as she felt and saw his presence suddenly so close. His fingers pushed her chin up. His lips were so close to her own. She could feel his breath on her lips as he talked.

"When you are talking to someone about something and you would like to make yourself heard, always maintain eye contact," he said, caressing her face as he once used to...as he once used to. "Do not stutter. Say it right and straight out if it is worth hearing for if not then you are truly wasting the person's time." She shifted uneasily, never taking her eyes off of his. " And never let the enemy know you are weak." 

"And are you my enemy?" she asked softly.

"I could very well be your worst," he whispered, his lips just a few millimeters from hers now. She wanted to lean in and kiss him, but she did not want to give in. She would not give in and she turned her head and he drew back.

"I'll say it straight and clear, my Lord," she said, staring at him boldly in the eye and feeling as if she was going to pass out, "There are problems between us. Or at least you seem to have a problem with me. Why do you not come to me as you once did? Why do you treat me as if I am nothing to you? I don't like how y-you....you have been treating me. You are cold to me. There is no warmth or love in any of our few meetings. You constantly criticize me and judge me and you insult me and yet still you say that I am your love. It makes no sense to me why you treat me this way and...and I would like an explanation."

"Most important of all, darling, don't let the enemy see you cry," he whispered, his mouth now only inches from hers.

"Why do you say such things?" her voice quivered. A tear rolled down her cheek. He wiped it away with one swift move of his thumb. 

"Nothing makes sense to you does it?" he said.

"Stop it," she said, tearing her eyes from his. "Stop doing this to me. I deserve none of it." 

"And in what power are you to say that you deserve none of it?" he prodded on. "Are you honestly that arrogant as to think that you are perfect and have never committed sins? How does it feel to never understand anything?"

"Stop!" she cried, trying to move away. She pushed past his arm and started to walk away from him, when he grabbed her by the waist and deposited her in front of him, like a doll. He held her firmly in place by placing both arms tightly around her. His face now held an amused smile. She did not struggle for there was no point in trying to struggle with an elf who was thousands of years old. His steel clutches held her like a trap. One swift move and he could have killed her. She found it ironic how just a few weeks ago, these same arms that seemed to cut into her at the moment, held her and comforted her in a most gentle way.

"You really need to get your priorities straightened out, young one," he said. "You know nothing of what you speak."

Oh, but of course Eden was scared. In fact, she was petrified, but Eden was Eden and Eden had an attitude when she needed one. 

"You still didn't give me an explanation," she said. He let her go suddenly and Eden relaxed and sighed. 

"Did that make you feel like more male-like, Legolas?" she glared at him. He glared back.

"You don't have it in you to hurt me," she said ever so softly, thinking he wouldn't hear. But he did. 

And growling, he pushed her up against the wall, pressing down on her as his lips grazed the sensitive tip of her ear, making her shiver slightly. He laughed at this. Well, needless to say, Eden was wrong and Legolas was in fact quite stronger than she ever imagined and did have it in him to hurt her. He was quite strong, she realized, as she pushed at him, trying to make him let up on her as her vision started to blur and she gasped for breath.

"Lock your door from now on," he whispered in her ear, "and for your own sake, don't let yourself be alone with me...."

And with that, he pushed her away and slipped out the door. Eden slumped into her chair, taking in deep breaths. What did he mean? Was it a threat? It sure sounded like a threat....

There was no reason why he would have reacted that way. 'But hey at least he was touching me..' she thought sadly.

But nevertheless, she listened to him. She made sure she was always in the company of others, except of course when she was cleaning, but then she always locked the door. But everyone makes mistakes and Eden is certainly no exception. After a few months, she still remembered to lock her door, yet it was a ritual now. She did, however, forget the whole "don't be alone" aspect of what he told her. Besides, she never saw him anyway. She assumed he was probably doing....prince-like kind of stuff. Thus, she concluded that the chance of actually being alone with him was very very slim since he was never near the guest's side...or at least she never saw him near there anyways. 

And so one day Eden decided to go for a swim....in the river....in the middle of the night. 

'It's very safe here,' she thought,' no wild animals to chase me around.' And of course, she forgot about everything else. 

And on that note, dear reader, Eden can be a moron, but she has a good heart......really.

She put on the hooded cloak which Nitu gave her and quietly snuck out of the guest quarters and went down into the forest. She crept silently deeper until she finally hit the river. She almost squealed with glee as the water beckoned her and throwing off her cloak, she jumped in without thinking, forgetting to take off her dress. 

Oh, but she did not care and after a few more hours of swimming in the water, she climbed out, her dress clinging tightly to her body and collapsed on the ground, breathing hard. She sat up and looked up at the moon. It looked very big to her and the stars seemed to wink softly at her. It was a beautiful night. The forest smelled heavenly and the cool air on her skin felt wonderful as well. 

She crawled over once more to the water and looked down at her reflection, illuminated by the light of the moon. She cleared the hair from her face. 'I look like death,' she laughed silently as she stared at her pale skin in her reflection. Then she looked at her hands and her legs. The reflection did not lie for they were very pale indeed. Eden smirked. 

'All the other elf maidens have skin that is blushed or slightly blushed or even slightly golden,' she thought bitterly, 'I look like a dying human.' 

But when she looked back into the water, there was now two people with the moon. She saw Legolas's pale face staring down at her. She gasped and looked up and sure enough, he was right there. They were both motionless: Eden staring up at him with surprise and fear and Legolas, staring down at her with no expression. 

Finally, Eden's thought process returned and grabbing her cloak, she tried to move away from him as fast as she could. He caught her around the waist in a second and spun her around to face him. She was paralyzed with fear. 

"Tsk tsk, my lovely Eden," he said, pulling her closer to him. "You never did listen." But she had another trick up her sleeve....or at least her foot anyways as it slammed into his crotch (second time in the same story..poor Legolas).

And so Eden ran and ran....and ran some more until finally she jumped into the river and hid in the reeds. It was completely silent except for the sounds of the night in the forest. She peeked up above the reeds and saw no Legolas in sight. 

She sighed happily. She fooled him! Eden, the skinny dumb copper-haired elf-maiden had actually outsmarted the brilliant Prince of Mirkwood! And so she swam backwards and bumped into something. Turning around in a panic she turned to face.....nothing. It was just a piece of wood. She sighed and then turned and swam straight into the arms of Legolas.

"I knew you'd come back to me," he said, sarcastically. Her face was once again inches from his, but this time she did not have to think about kissing him for her problem was solved. Legolas pulled her in for a passionate kiss and not being able to help herself, she responded to it, wrapping her arms and legs around him as he did with her. His strong arms embraced her and held her snugly against him. He smelled of the forest and spice. Her fingers laced through his hair. Her hips pushed against his and he groaned against her mouth, holding her even closer. His thumbs grazed her nipples and she gasped. 

His lips moved down to her neck and then pulled away suddenly. 

"But my mission tonight is not to bring you pleasure, my love," he laughed. "I hope you enjoyed that little session. I think it will be the last bit of pleasure you will ever receive from me. Yet, it was quite nice wasn't it?"

Eden struggled against him as he dragged her and himself out of the water. "You're sick!" she cried, her vision blurred with tears. "You won't get away with any of this. You know, if anything happens, you.....you'll be in trouble." 

"Silly little fool," he smiled cruelly. "I'll do whatever I want. I'm the heir to the throne of Mirkwood and if I want to do something, I'll do it and I certainly don't need the permission of some little girl." Then he grabbed her wrist rather tightly and pulled her along forcibly.

She was pulled along with his quick strides and she tried to move along with him as best as she could until they got to an unfamiliar place. It looked exactly like the place he took her to on the night that they first made love, but it was different...it was surrounded by a hedge and Legolas pushed through it, almost dragging her. 

When they were inside, he picked her up and deposited her on the bed and then got on top of her, holding her face in his hands. 

"Eden," he whispered, "Eden listen to me. I'm sorry. I had to do this or we would never talk at all or see each other at all."

"What?" she said. Now she was very very very confused. What the hell was going on?

"I know it's hard to understand, but we've been followed and spied on and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you, but if whoever it was found out anything, then our love would surely be in jeopardy," he explained, still whispering. "I'm sorry I have hurt you, but it was the only way. They're always listening and watching. I've been trying to find out who this person was, but I just don't know who and it's been killing me. Whoever this is, they have spies. They think I cannot see them or sense them." 

Eden looked at him. His eyes were his own once again. They held the same warmth as they once did. 

"My Legolas," she whispered and pulled him down for a most passionate kiss. He groaned softly. "How I have missed you."

"I have missed you so," he whispered, "I had to restrain myself at all times from taking you in my arms and holding you. In the water, I was just going to pull you out, but I couldn't help myself. You looked so beautiful. I tried to cover it up as best as I could......I hope who ever was watching fell for it."

"But how did you ever know that this would happen?" she asked. "I mean, how did you know I would be out by the river...in the middle of the night?"

"Umm....well let's just say I know you very well, Eden, " he smiled and then sighed and held her closer. "But just to have you here in my arms right now is like heaven. I have missed you so."

"So have I, "she said, "But what is this room?"

"We are here together at last in the same bed and you actually care where we are?" he laughed. "Well, we are in yet another secret room in the palace that I don't think anyone knows about. I found it when I was yet 500 years old. I believe it was built by..."

"Hmm you're right I don't care," she smiled and kissed him again. 

"Aren't you uncomfortable in that wet dress?" he purred. Eden giggled and nodded. 

"Oh yes very, my Lord," she laughed. 

"Then I must perform my duty to my humble servant and perhaps remove this burden that she wears," he said, lust in his voice. He kissed her neck and his thumbs ever-so-gently grazed her nipples. She gasped arching into him. A small smile appeared on his face momentarily.

His fingers slowly took off the dress, making sure to feel every inch of her as they moved down her body, slowly and carefully removing the soaked cloth as Eden lay panting with desire. 

Soon all clothes were tossed aside carelessly and Eden was once again swept into that forbidden place which only Legolas could bring her to.

As they lay side by side, bodies entwined still, they spoke once more of a future, and Eden was determined to prove her brother wrong.

"We speak of a future together," she said, "But is it actually a possibility? Or are we living in a dream? How can this future be achieved?"

"You ask too many questions," Legolas scoffed and turned away from her. 

"Are you not capable of answering them all?" she asked coldly. He turned towards her, sitting up.

"I don't need this right now," he muttered and sat up fully, exposing his lean and muscular torso. Eden pulled him back down.

"My brothers have told me much about you and I want you to prove them wrong," she said, "I need you to prove them wrong."

"No you don't," he said, pushing her aside gently, "Just don't listen to what they say. Unless of course you choose to believe them."

"Why won't you answer my questions Legolas?" she asked angrily, sitting up as well, but holding the blanket to her chest. He was silent for a moment.

And then , "Because I can't answer your questions," he sighed, "I want to, but I can't. I want to believe it is a possibility and that this is all real and that we may have a future ahead of us where we don't have to hide our love, but I can't promise you a thing Eden. I want to. May the Valar help me because I want to, but I can't." He looked away. 

"Then why couldn't you just tell me that straight off?" she asked angrily, "Why do I have to dissect you every time I want an answer?"

"Why why why," muttered Legolas, "You talk too much."

"Well you don't talk enough," she said. "What's wrong highness? Are you being rude right now because someone is watching and listening? Or do you just feel like being an arse?" She threw off the sheet at which she saw Legolas look over at her. She put on her dress rather quickly.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Frankly, my Lord, I am quite sick of your games and you can talk to me when you start acting like a grown elf," she said and started to walk out when she felt arms around her waist, but they were not strong and forceful, but gentle and pleading.

She looked down at Legolas whose angelic head rested on her hip and those very blue eyes stared up at her, full of so much hurt. Her heart melted. 

"I'm sorry Eden," he said. "All this is just taking a toll on me and I really should not be taking it out on you." Eden smiled and stroked his hair.

"Something will happen, Legolas," she whispered. "I can feel it. Change is in the air." He said nothing as he clung to her.

******* ******* ********

She opened her eyes. Where was she? Brushing the hair out of her face, she sat up, shaking the dirt and leaves out of her hair. It was a strange morning. No sun. The sky was pure white and the silence was deafening, except for the occasional gust of wind. No birds, no insects, nothing but the sound of her breathing. How long had she been here? How did she get here? Had it all been a dream? 

A sudden fear took her. Looking down at herself, her dress was still not fully dry. 'Oh please, please, don't let it have been a dream,' she thought, 'Let this be a nightmare.'

*************************************************************************

A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed!! You guys make me feel so happy!! :-) Sorry, I promised that I'd try and not make this weird...but that's just my writing style. I can't help it.


	16. shattered hearts

"Awake already?" Legolas walked into the clearing. He had a bow and quiver slung on his back. She was not sure whether to shrink in fear or run over and kiss him. She stood very still, a confused expression on her face. What was happening? Was that all a dream or not?

"Yes," she said, eyeing him, "Going hunting?" 

"You might say that," he smirked. 

"It was a dream," she whispered.

"What was?" he asked.

"What happened last night,"she said, turning away from him, "It was all a dream."

"Been dreaming about me eh?" she heard him laugh,"Your expression tells me it was a good dream."

"How did you....,"she turned. Suddenly, she walked up to him. His face turned to surprise, but he did not back away. 

"Are they watching us?" she whispered. Legolas looked around.

"Who?" he asked.

"The people...the people...who are watching us....who don't want us to be together," she said. His laugh chilled her.

"Have you gone insane?" he asked.

"No," she said, her eyes filling with tears, "Oh no, no, no, no, it couldn't have been a dream. Please, don't let it have been a dream."

"What happened in this dream of yours?" he asked.

"I went swimming and you found me," she said, starting to panic. "And you chased me and I tried to hide but you caught me and you took me to a room and you told me that we were being watched and that is why you were acting like that around me and then we...well yes that's about it."

"And then we what?" he asked, a curious smile on his face.

"Umm...never mind," she said, "So did it happen?"

"Tell me what happened at the end," he smiled, moving closer. "Perhaps we can make this dream a reality?"

"Then we made cookies," she said quickly. The smile was wiped off of Legolas' face and confusion set in.

"Cookies?" he asked.

"Yes, precisely, cookies," she said. "What did you think I was talking about?"

"I think you know perfectly well," he smirked, "After all, you're not that dense."

Suddenly, he pulled her close to him and whispered. "You need to shutup already Eden. You're revealing a lot."

Eden nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. Now she knew what he was doing. 'He's just pretending with me,' she thought, 'Oh thank goodness! It wasn't a dream after all.'(A/N: yes it really did happen. Eden is not being a dumbass....for now)

"Alright then," she smiled. "Happy hunting, my Lord." She bowed and turned to walk when he grabbed her arm.

"Why don't you accompany me today?" he asked. 

"Well I still have my duties to do today," she said. Something did not feel right. Her eyes grew fearful as they gazed upon his own. His grip on her arm was like a vice and she gasped as his grip tightened.

"I excused you from those duties," he said and pulled her along. They walked in silence until they came upon a clearing where in the middle there were unequipped elves and then to the left there were a few other elves, all equipped with bows and arrows. One of them was the one that Eden had scratched, yet his handsome face was in tact and showed no sign of scars. 

"It's them," he whispered in her ear so that she could barely hear and then pushed her harshly into the center of the circle of the clearing, along with a few other elves who Eden recognized as other servants at the palace. They too were doing their civil service here. 

"Hello Eden," the one named Saria greeted her, "Do you know why we're here today?"

"I have no idea," Eden sighed.

"You look awful," said the one named Kio. "Did you fall in the river?" Eden smiled.

"Uh...yes...heh....I can just be so clumsy sometimes," she said. She looked over at the others and Legolas. They were talking and laughing and did not seem to be paying attention to the servants.

"Why are they taking so long?" said Saria. "If they start any later, we'll miss the arrival of the new dresser in Lady Vauria's room," Kio and Eden muttered in agreement. Eden's heart beat wildly. What if she made a mistake? She did that so often, but she tried not to concentrate on it and continued speaking with others. There were ten other servants including herself and 5 elves with bows and arrows. 

Finally, the one who she had scratched, Talad, came forward to Eden and roughly turned her around. 

"You keep those harpy claws to yourself this time or your punishment will be much much worse," he growled.

"Only if you keep your filthy paws off of me," she retorted. He snarled at her and started to advance upon her when suddenly Legolas started to speak. Talad quickly forgot about Eden and his full attention was on the Prince.

"So does everyone know what we are doing today?" he asked.

"No, your highness," came the answer.

"We are playing a game called predator and prey," he said, "Does anyone know how to play?"

"No, your highness," came the answer again.

"It is really quite simple," he said, stringing his bow. All of the servants looked uneasily at him. 

"I don't like this at all," somebody whispered.

"We're the predators," a sadistic smile spread across his face. "You're the prey. You will have a five....well, make it six...five is too easy...six minute head start." There were sudden cries of worry and fear. "On your marks, get set, go!"

The whole pack took off running. Someone pulled Eden to the side and she could see that it was Kio and Saria who ran along beside her. The others ran in the opposite direction. 

"What's...," Eden started, but Saria interrupted her. 

"Don't talk just run!" she cried. And so she did and she ran the fastest that she had in her entire life. Eden was always good at running but she made sure to follow Kio and Saria. After a while, they were beginning to slow from exhaustion. Kio pointed out a rock formation and they headed there. 

They disappeared into a cave. 

"What will happen if they catch us?" asked Eden breathlessly. 'What a strange morning it has been,' she thought as she relaxed against the rock.

"I don't know," said Kio, "Never been caught."

"Me neither," added Saria.

"Do they actually shoot you with arrows?" asked Eden, "How do they catch you:?"

"They do use arrows but they put these balls at the tip so it won't go through the skin and the balls are filled with different colored ink according to each player," explained Saria, "It's actually quite painful. They can also catch you by grabbing you and pulling you on their horse."

"So you have played this before?" Eden cried. "Then why did you say that you did not know how to play?"

"Shhh not so loud," warned Kio, "That's what you always have to say. It's customary to say that during this game. You're supposed to pretend you don't know how to play it. It's actually very old. Elves have been playing it since the Valar set them upon Middle Earth. I'm surprised they chose you to participate though. You're new. They usually pick people who have been here for a long time."

"But stick with us and you won't get caught," Saria said quietly, "We have always hid here and they haven't found us yet."

"So how do we know when it ends?" asked Eden.

"The horn is blown and then you go back to your room....that is if you don't get caught," said Kio. "I don't know what happens if you do."

"So we just wait here?" asked Eden.

"Yep," sighed Kio and relaxed. Suddenly, Saria's face turned white. She sniffed the air and pressed her ear against the stone and then looked helplessly towards Kio and Eden, fear in her large blue eyes. 

"Run while you can," she whispered haursely and they all ran out of the cave in separate directions. Eden heard the sound of hooves and urged herself to run faster. She heard a far off cry and an "I got one!" Eden ran aimlessly deeper into the forest. She didn't know how much further it was until she would drop of exhaustion, but till then she ran as if her life depended on it. An arrow whizzed by, hitting a tree and exploding red paint all over. But who was the one with the red paint on their arrows? She hoped it was Legolas, if anybody.

She dared not look back, but suddenly stopped when she was almost about to collapse from exhaustion. She realized that it was silent once more . She turned around to look in the direction that she was running from and saw nothing there. Looking around wildly, she saw only forest and the white sky. A strenuous breeze blew through the forest, making her copper strands spin high above her head. Suddenly it stopped and the forest was dead silent once more. Now all she heard was her own heavy breathing. 

She decided that she should start walking further into the forest. Her head spun from lack of oxygen as she walked under the trees. And she realized now that it had all been a bad trick. Those two that had tried to "help" her were actually using her as a diversion. Her heart sank.

Suddenly, she was hit with an arrow. She turned and was hit by another and then another. Saria was right, it was very painful and Eden dropped to the ground and cradled herself and whimpered as she kept getting hit. Finally it stopped and she looked up to see the slender legs of a white horse and on it sat Talad, a satisfied smile on his face. Eden felt sore as she stood up and looking down at herself, she saw that she was covered with the red paint.

It was quite a scene. A pure white horse with a chiseled, handsome, and clean cut relative of the royal family on it and then a young elf maiden with messed up copper hair that spilled all around her and a ruined dress now stained with red paint. 

"That's a nice color on you," Talad said. Eden said nothing as she wiped some of the red paint off her hands and onto a clean spot on her dress. "Now then, follow me." He turned his horse around.

"Why should I?" Eden asked with spite as she stood where she was, drops of red paint sliding off her dress. He turned back quickly and strung an arrow. 

"Do you want to get shot again?" he growled. "I hear it's rather painful." 

"Alright," grumbled Eden and started to walk after him. He let an arrow loose into her stomach. She dropped forward onto the ground, the air completely knocked out of her.

"I said alright!"she gasped. 

"Just making sure," he said in a pleasant, gentle-manly manner. "Now walk."

And so Eden followed him. She did not realize how far she had ran.

"You are quite the sprinter," he said. "My horse was running at almost full gallop after you. You're fast, very fast."

"Obviously not fast enough," sighed Eden. "So what happens now?"

"Well since you got caught, we go through the ritual," he said.

"Ritual?" asked Eden, not liking the sound of that. "What happens in this ritual?"

"You learn," Talad said, turning on his horse to look down at her.

"I learn what?" she asked, her voice betraying her.

"Not to get caught ever again," he laughed. 

"But I'm tired," whined Eden. "I don't want to play anymore."

"Too bad," he said carelessly, "We're almost there."

As they walked back to the clearing, Eden spotted Legolas on his horse. Their eyes met and she saw a worried look on his face. The horn was blown and all the others that had not been caught came to the clearing and were dismissed. Eden and four others also covered in paint, but in different colors, stood mumbling softly to each other. 

"We now begin the ritual of the prey," announced one of the other elves sitting on a grey mare. 

They were all told to sit down. Eden closed her eyes. She felt something cool and warm slide onto her hair and down her dress. She wiped the substance from her eyes. It was honey. She heard the elves laugh, while the servants issued cries of disgust. Some of them laughed too. 

Closing her eyes in anticipation, she felt smoother liquid being dumped onto her and she recognized its smell. It was paint. Red paint. Each one was getting paint poured onto them, the paint color of their captors. She whimpered as she tried to clear it from her stinging eyes. Everyone seemed to be laughing, even the ones who were having paint splattered on them. She looked at her hands. They looked like they were covered in blood. 

"You're sick," she said. Talad walked over to her and lifted her chin with his sword. 

"What did you say?" he asked. Eden swallowed hard. Everything was quiet once more.

"I said you're sick," she repeated. Talad raised an eyebrow. 

"Oh, is that so?" Talad smirked. Eden looked at Legolas, who looked like he was trying to restrain himself. His eyes pleaded with her to be quiet.

"Yes, this is barbaric and sadistic," she said defiantely, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Everyone of you."

"Oh come off it!" cried one of the captured behind her, "It's all fun and games. No harm done."

"You're only saying that because you want them to like you," spat Eden, "You care what they think of you. You're willing to let them humiliate you because you think they will accept you. You're hoping to get into their circle of friends by letting them do this to you. Well, not me. I couldn't give a flying fuck if they like me or not and maybe the rest of you will just sit here and take it, but I won't." And with that, Eden pushed the sword away. She stood up and started to walk away when someone blocked her path. Talad stood in front of her.

"But really," he said, "red is such a nice color on you."

Suddenly she was dragged back and she could do nothing to stop it. She did not even feel it. How did they tie her up without her noticing? And so she sat with her hands tied at her back and her feet bound together as another dose of red paint was spilled onto her. The laughter of the captured and the captors arose once more. Yet this time, Eden could not wipe away the red paint from her eyes as the others could. And she had to spit it out of her mouth since it was on her lips. 

Then she felt something else spilled onto her. The smell...was that......oh no.

It was something like ale, but much stronger than ale. And the second it hit her skin, Eden felt dizzy and her head hurt and spun. She heard some of the others start laughing. 

"It's ale!" one of them laughed. "I'm getting drunk!!" Everyone burst into laughter. And then suddenly there was a rush of water and Eden was doused with water. At every side it was thrown at her so that she could scarcely breath and when it was done, she opened her eyes. Her legs and dress were no longer red, but the water around her was. She felt and heard the others get up and stumble away, laughing. Yet she sat on the ground tied, waiting for someone...perhaps Legolas..to set her free. But it was Talad's boots she saw approaching her. 

"You dishonored me in front of my servants and friends," he growled. "Should I do the same to you?"

"Do what you want," Eden murmured. She was not only exhausted, mentally and physically, but she was also drunk. She felt herself being untied and her wrists were firmly held in place against someone. Someone mean and strong. What was going on? 

Eden kept her eyes closed. She did not want to see what was happening. But something forced her to. He did and so she opened them to see six blue eyes staring at her. Then it was four. Then it was two. They were so angry. So angry and Eden wondered what had happened that had caused such nice eyes to become so angry. 

"You stupid girl," the mouth spoke, "Do you know who you're dealing with?" But Eden could barely stand and everything around them was spinning. The only thing keeping her from falling was his arms. But where was her Prince? Where was Legolas? But first she had to answer this creature's question. 

"I don't know," she replied. And then she felt him touch her. Where? Where were those fingers? They were on her face, tracing her lips and now they were on her neck and now they were.......

But suddenly she was grabbed away with such force and she was in someone's arms. The savior smelled familiar and those arms...they were strong and protective. She heard arguments. She heard curses. But she didn't care because she was safe now. She was safe. 

And when she opened her eyes, she was staring into the ocean, into an endless blue which stretched for leagues. Legolas' beautiful face came into view. His expression was sad. He carressed her face gently. 

"Are you alright?" he asked. 

"I don't know," she said. Her fingertips carresed his face as well and she felt his tears. 

"I'm sorry, Eden," he whispered. "This should have never happened. I'm so sorry."

"But now everyone knows," she said. He grew quiet and then, "Yes."

"And what did you tell them?" she had started crying now. "What did you tell them, Legolas?"

"I told them.....everything," he said.

"Tell me what you told them, Legolas," she had moved away slightly, away from his warmth, from his arms. Suddenly, a second face came into view. The frowning face of Talad and the rest of the elves.

"I told them about our.....um relationship," he continued. 

"Yes all about your little affair," smirked Talad.

"Little affair?" she whispered through her tears.

Legolas would not look at her. She wondered if his friends had seen his tears. 

"We think this matter to be very serious and I for one am very glad that Legolas told me," Talad said. "I am his oldest and dearest friend, after all, not to mention a close relative. I've known about it all along. How you're obsessed with him and how he only said those things to take pity on you and well, one can excuse the Prince for acting only how nature made him to act when a beautiful and scantily dressed elf maiden is practically falling all over him. He felt sorry for you and you took advantage of that. Have you no shame? For using someone you serve like that? Your future king? You should be locked up for this."

"This isn't happening," she whispered. "You wouldn't do this to me. You couldn't. You...he's making you. Don't you see? Can't you stand up and say something in my defense instead of being a coward?"

"And now you insult our Prince!" Talad said loudly. "You whore." 

"And still you say and do nothing," Eden was very calm now, "What else did you let him do to me while I was unconcious Legolas?" He still would not look at her. She sat on the edge of the bed. This was the room where they first made love in. How ironic. 

"Unlike you, the Prince has feelings and morals, " Talad continued, "Nothing happened. I wouldn't want to touch you anyways, even if you begged me."

"Keep dreaming," she glared. She was very angry now. 'That coward,' she thought,' Probably slayed a million orcs, but still can't stand to hurt his reputation.'

"You make me sick," she said and started to get up, but was pushed back down.

"We're not done with you yet, you brazen bitch," he growled. "I said you will be punished for doing this to the Prince and you will be. I've already called the guards."

"You're bluffing," Eden wrapped an arm around one of the posts of the bed and even though her face was expressionless, tears poured freely. "You didn't. Legolas, you bastard, if you're going to let it be like this then at least have the balls to tell me you don't love me. Go ahead, tell me." This time Legolas's eyes met hers. They were no longer sad.

"I don't love you Eden," he said. Eden felt her heart break for a second time. "I never did. This was just a stupid game that turned awry. I really did think you were just playing along." 

"Ooooh, that's got to hurt," said Talad, a satisfied smile on his face. "Now let's see. You will go to the dungeons for a few nights until the king will hear of this and it will be soon, mind you and well...you will be sent back to your home where you will live eternally alone for being such a whore."

Eden covered her face with her hands and curled up, sitting, into a ball. She did not want them to see her cry any longer.

"And what will your parents think?" Talad said with deceitful worry," Your father? Your brothers? What will everyone say when you leave your home? Correction, if you leave your home." Eden could not help but cry harder. All the things he said seemed to be so real.

He kneeled down in front of her and then looked to Legolas. 

"And who will marry you now?" he said in the same tone, "Now that everyone knows how you really are?" He laughed and looked at Legolas, whose face said nothing, but merely stared at Eden who avoided his eyes. 

Suddenly, Talad grabbed her by the shoulders. "You know, if you had set your sights on me, things could have been different," he whispered. "But you chose the very person who would not even dream of feeling anything for you. You!" He shook her slightly. "You who is a Goldenlight! Did you really think anything was going to happen?" Eden would not look at him. "Oh you did. How romantic." He tilted her head towards him. "Have a nice life, whore."

"But you told me.....," she whispered through her tears towards Legolas.

"I'm sorry Eden," Legolas said.

"It can't end like this," she cried. "Tell them the truth Legolas."

"He did tell us the truth!" said Talad, angrier than ever. "It is you who lies, you stupid excuse for an elf."

"For once in your life, stand up for what you believe in," she cried, grasping his arm, but now his face had turned cold. 

"You have no right to speak to me like that," he hissed, pulling himself away from her. "Perhaps that is where you belong. In the dungeons."

And she was suddenly grabbed by three pairs of cold hurtful hands. She looked at Legolas who merely stared at her with boredom. 

"I hate you," she said to him and then let herself be pulled outside the door. She was pushed into a small cell with almost no light. The floor was very cold and the shadows that danced across the walls scared her. She was so hungry and thirsty. She was so emotionally and physically drained.

She laid herself on the cold, hard floor. Everyone she knew hated her and she would surely be turned away by her parents. She would run away as soon as she came home. She would run away and never return. She was sick of all the drama, the lying, the schemes. She was sick of being hurt over and over again. She was sick of it all. But despite the fact that he had betrayed her, Eden still loved Legolas. She could not help it. 

And so Eden cried. She cried and cried for everything that had happened to her, for all the pain that she had encountered, for every emotional scar that she knew would never heal. Her crying echoed in the almost silent halls of the dungeons and even those that usually screamed and bellowed and cursed were silenced and listened to Eden's crying. The guards too stood in silence and looked at each other as her mournful cries were echoed in the dungeon. This was not merely the crying and tears of some little elf maiden who nobody liked, this was the pain and suffering of someone who was completely broken inside, someone there was no hope for and who had lost all hope, someone who begged for death with their tears. And it only stopped when she closed her eyes and fell asleep. (A/N: Yes...boohoo...sorry for the angst)

She did not hear the murmurs of pity of the other prisoners or the guards. In the morning, she was given extra food from the kindness and pity of the guards. But when Dar, the dungeon guard came in to give her the food she did not eat it. She merely sat staring straight ahead, oblivious to everything around her. He set the plate down and locked the door shaking his head.

But then Dar came back in four hours later and still the plate was full. 

"Aren't you going to eat something?" he asked. "I mean, we did give you extra rations. The least you could do is thank us and eat it."

"But then," she finally spoke, still not looking at him, "That would mean that everything was alright. To eat a full meal, that would mean that everything was alright and happy, but it's not. Could you possibly comprehend the feeling of knowing that your life is over? Could you imagine it? Well try, and then we shall see if you have a good appetite."

"I'm not trying to be nosy, but did you really do everything they said you did?" he asked, whispering.

"I do not know who 'they' are, but I can assure you 'they' know nothing," Eden replied. It was good to have someone to tell something to. Even if it was nothing. He nodded, but before he left Eden had to ask. "Has anyone been down here to see me?"

Dar shook his head. Eden sighed and lay back. She knew it was too much to expect but still... 

More days passed and Eden had not eaten still and still no one came to get her. She only slept now. No tears rolled down her cheeks anymore. She was silent. The emptiness seized her suddenly and she merely lay on the floor like a doll, waiting for someone, for anyone, to pick her up off the floor. Everyday she would ask Dar the same thing. "Has anyone come to see me?" But no one ever came. 

Yet, finally, on the 18th day of her stay, she was awoken in the middle of the night and taken to the washing room where the maids bathed her and gave her a long white gown with long sleeves and whose neck line was rather low. Then she was taken to the main hall to see the king. She looked even thinner and paler still and her blue-green eyes were dull and empty. And yet her heart wrenched as she saw Legolas sitting beside his father and brothers. His gaze turned towards her and he sat in his chair, his eyes slightly widened and sad.

Everyone was staring at her. 

"By the Valar," she heard someone whisper, "look how thin she is." Eden truthfully did not know how she was standing. She felt as if her legs would give out at any second. 

Then she heard the king's voice. It was soft and deep, but she was not listening. She merely stared down at the ground. Then his voice rose and she looked up to see Legolas, but he was not there. He had left his seat. 

Suddenly she was released. 

"You are to go home and never come back to the palace again under very severe punishment," she heard him say. She nodded and was led out. Someone had given her a horse. It was her horse. Sumo nudged her lovingly. 

A single tear rolled down her cheek. "We will be leaving here soon, Sumo," she whispered to him, embracing him. "We will never return. We will go see what we have always wanted to see. I need no one's protection. I will train myself with the skill of the sword and arrow." 

She mounted Sumo and they set off towards her home, but when she got there, no one was home. All her belongings were at the palace, but she decided that she had better pack food and so she did, right after eating a meal that made her emaciated self very full. She took a pouch of water and a bundle of food and she borrowed another cloak from one of her other siblings. She also picked up a light sword, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. She then ran outside, mounted Sumo and took off. She rode for a day until suddenly when she was at the edge of Mirkwood, she felt someone drop in behind her on Sumo and pulled her to a stop.

Whoever it was said nothing, but removed her sword from her waist, her dagger from her ankle, and her bow and arrows. 

Eden merely sat and cried once more. She knew there was not much else she could do. She was still very weak and knew she could not fight back. 

"You know you can't go anywhere in this state," Legolas whispered in her ear. 

"In the state that YOU put me through!" she cried. "You did this to me! When our love was tested, you ran away like a scared little child and left me to those dogs all alone! You. Left. Me. Again." 

"You know I couldn't tell them," he said.

"Why not?" she asked. "Still ashamed? Still too fucking scared to tell anyone?"

"It's......it's....it's all very complicated Eden," he said, still holding her, "It's politics. You can't mix love and politics Eden."

"And the point of you stopping me was?" she asked, no longer crying.

"I don't want you to leave," he whispered. The pieces of her heart that were left, shattered in an instant and the sudden feeling of emptiness enveloped her.

"I hope I never set eyes on you again, your highness," she said slowly, "Now get off my horse." 

She felt him slide off and his warmth left her. Then, without looking back, Eden rode out of Mirkwood forest for the first time in her life.

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A/N: I was thinking of ending it there, but I promised a proper ending for this story and I don't like to break promises so either the next or the one after this is the last chapter. Let's just play it by ear, shall we? :) 

I'd like to thank everyone who liked and reviewed the last chapter. I love getting those things. They give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, as if I accidentally swallowed a bunny. Hehe. Ok I'm going to stop. Meanwhile, I've been creating another fic. So when this is done I'll be posting a new one. Yay! 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	17. close to it, but not quite yet

Eden sat in her little room staring at the wall. The sounds of the busy town rang loud through her open window as a cool breeze wafted into the room. 

A few decades back, she decided that she just wasn't cut out to be a fighter (especially after an incident concerning a sword where she almost cut her own leg off) and was more fit for passive work. She had become an assistant to a bookkeeper.....not to mention also joined a neighborhood gang of humans whose idea of a fun night was robbing people in their homes while they were asleep. They were called the Carathim and no one knew why. When asked why he chose that name, the leader, a short human named Aderter, was quoted to say, "Because I felt like it. Got a problem?"

No one would ever suspect that sweet, good-natured Eden would be in that gang. Her eyes still held a certain innocence, even as she robbed a man blind while he was talking to her. She was small and thin and could never cause any harm (or at least that's what everyone who wasn't in the gang thought). She was quick, graceful and quiet with her movements and was usually the top choice to rob a house where people slept. She often slipped out in matter of seconds and would then be applauded by the rest of the gang. This always made her smile and feel welcome and accepted, something she had never felt in Mirkwood and something that she lived on. Those feelings were like intoxicating drugs that she kept coming back to, that she lived off of. 

To the rest of the town, she was Eden, but to the Carathim, she was simply Merathim.

She had blocked out the memories of her past and made up a new story about how she was abandoned as a child by her parents and made her way to this town that was several hundred miles from Mirkwood. A few times she had caught herself day-dreaming of Legolas and thinking about what (or who) he was doing at the moment, but then she would scold herself and put him in the back of her mind once more. Deep in her heart, she wished that he would find her someday, but her heart had become encased in stone and metal and no one had been able to get through since and so she pushed back those hopeful thoughts and lived her life as she pleased.

"There is a new party coming in," said Aderter as they sat in his house, drinking ale. "They will be staying at the Golden Inn. Fancy they are and they keep to themselves, as I hear it. Tried to arrive unseen, but we have better eyes than they think."

"Are they elves?" Eden blurted out.

"No, human, I believe," he laughed, standing up "Nobody important. Get ready, my friends. We're going on a raid tonight." Eden felt a twinge of disappointment, but smiled devilishly as Aderter sent a praiseful gaze towards her. 

"Merathim," he said. "You know the drill. You will be our main woman tonight, my dear. Let's go. We will await you on the roof."

She put on her black mask and black clothes and crept into the night like a cat on the prowl. She loved hotel raids. Humans were so stupid, always bringing so much with them whenever they traveled. As she peeked into the room, she saw only one bed and someone under the covers, their body rising and falling in sleep. She glanced around the room and spotted a huge chest. Taking out a tiny oil canister, she dripped some on the window hinge and opened it quietly, slipping inside and making no noise. The room was pitch dark and she could see very little, but she remembered where the chest was and her elvish senses definitely gave her an advantage.

She approached it slowly and did not notice as the supposedly sleeping person arose and grabbed her leg, making her fall to the floor. She struggled against the man who held her down easily while he lit his lamp, illuminating the entire room in soft yellow light.

"Who are you?" Legolas growled, holding the intruder by the neck. Eden however recognized him suddenly and all the pain and suffering that she had felt riding out of that forest came crashing down on her. So for the third time in their meeting (it is third yes?), Eden aimed a swift kick at his groin. He managed to catch her foot, but not fast enough. He doubled over her, seething in pain as she twisted under him. Recovering, he felt up her leg, back, and arm 

"You're not even armed," he said, "It never pays to be overly confident, especially when you're dealing with me."

"And what is so special about you?" she snarled, pushing up at him. He still did not recognize her.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he smirked. "I suppose you'll find out in due time. You know, you really do make a very good thief. If I was asleep, I would never have been able to catch you. But unfortunately for you, I wasn't and now you'll have to deal with me."

Eden simply coughed and then slid out from under him, running for the window. He grabbed her leg just before she could jump out. Fortunately for her, he was not interested in finding out who his intruder was. He held a sword to her throat.

She laughed inside herself. Weren't they in this position before long ago?

"There are others I suppose?" he said. Before she could answer, he grabbed her and pushed himself out of the window and onto the roof. Her gang stood staring with surprised and frightened eyes.

"Merathim!" one of them cried and tried to run to her but Legolas held a dagger to her throat. 

"Let her go now!" growled Aderter.

"Merathim," he repeated the name, "Sounds elvish and no, I will not let her go. Those who attempt to steal from me are punished severely. I can see she is an important member of your entourage. Let this be a lesson to you all." He picked her up and jumped down into his room, throwing her on the floor. Eden tried running to the door, but was caught once more. 

'Oh to be in his arms again....,'something in Eden whispered, but she quickly shut it up. No way in hell she was going to get sentimental now. 

He tied her wrists and ankles. 

"That should keep you," he said as she struggled. He then locked the door and the window and closed the curtain. "I will make sure you get put into prison, where thieves like you belong. Perhaps this will teach your friends a lesson, but for now I would like to know who you are."

His hands moved to her mask and she twisted under his hand and tried to move her head away, saying "No." But he merely held her head in place and pulled it off. His facial expression did not change as he continued to glare at her. She glared back. 

"Surprise," she finally said.

"By the Valar," he whispered, his glare wavering.

"What's wrong?" she laughed. "Disappointed?"

"Why Eden?" he asked. He now looked like he was about to cry, but she couldn't give a flying shit.

"Ahh, shunned by her community and accused of being a whore, the girl that the cowardly Prince deceived takes her horse as far as it will go," she smiled, "She would have gone further, but her horse died and she now has to save money to buy another one and then she will once more be on the move. Happy?" 

"Ahh, yes the Carathim, you joined them and became their whore," he said, seemingly angry now.

"Better theirs than yours, highness," she spat. She looked away. She knew if she still continued to look upon him, she would burst into tears. The memories were now as fresh as they ever were and it burned her inside. Unfortunately, he could see this in her eyes and grabbed her face and turned it towards him so that she was forced to look at him. 

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she closed her eyes. 

"So she still feels," he whispered.

"You haven't changed a bit, Legolas," she said, her voice quivering slightly, "You're still the selfish and cruel coward that I left in Mirkwood."

"And you're still the naive little bitch you were when you left," he said angrily.

"How dare you?!" she cried. "You betrayed me...You....you.........." She tried to find other words, but none came. Only tears. Only her sadness. 

He said nothing, but removed her bondage and held her in his arms. She struggled against him, but he held her even tighter and so she gave up.

"Why did you do it?" she asked meekly. "Why did you let them do that to me? Why did you not love me?"

"I loved and love you more than anything in this world," he said, still holding her. "After you left, I sent numerous search parties after you and they kept track of where you were. They followed you here. I followed you here. I finally found you and I will not let you go."

"More promises Legolas?" she said, moving away from him. "More empty promises? How many more times do you have to break my heart before you keep just one?"

"Do you think it has been easy to live like this, to do this to you?" he said, quietly, "I admit my own cowardice, but you must understand, I am torn between my duty and my feelings. I have been thinking about this for a time as long as our love and I now see what a fool and a coward I was and I see that I am not myself when I think about my duties."

"Who am I to judge what choices you make in your life?" she said, running her fingers through her hair. "Do you expect me to feel sorry for you? Take pity upon the poor Prince? I will feel no such thing. You chose your own path."

"My path has always led to you!" cried Legolas, bringing her to him, "I was blind, but the Valar has shown me. I am destined to be with you."

"We shall see," she whispered. "I will see if you speak the truth, because now you can see that I will leave you. I am no longer the 'naive little bitch' that I was when I left. I have known more pain than you will ever know and you, you who I still love after all of this, has been the cause of all of it. You promised me the world and instead tore my heart to pieces. From now on, no more promises for I care little for the things you promise, I just want you. That is all I ever wanted."

And so they kissed, both feeling as if they were the only ones that existed in the universe. And for once, Eden felt his sincerity, but knew that he has yet to prove himself to her.

*********************************************************************

A/N: Hehe....um sorry guys. I said it would the end but apparently there is going to be another chapter and that will be the end. It took me a reallllllly long time to think of what would happen and I want to thank each and everyone of you for your awesome ideas. They really helped me to figure out what to do and I hope you all like it.


	18. end

She watched him as he slept, smiling inwardly. He let himself fall asleep in front of her, let himself become vulnerable, weak, thinking that she was harmless and that her love for him made her weak.

_Idiot_

She tried to warn him, tried to tell him that she wasn't all that stupid anymore. She stood up and walked over to him. He was still a god to her. He lay with a hand on his chest, his golden hair sprawled over the pillow. The outline of his cheekbones was perfect and delicate and she could see the bluish veins in his neck. His other hand lay at his side, fingers curled slightly. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever lay her eyes upon. She pressed her lips to his fair cheek and with one final glance back, unlocked the window and slipped out into the growing dawn.

She too had to make a decision. Live her life freely as she had been doing since she left Mirkwood, or give Legolas another chance? And if she did give him another chance and he did prove himself to her, what then? Will she give all this up? Her happiness, her acceptance, her freedom? But she loved him. But she loved her life here. Dammit.

She jumped the roof tops until finally she reached her building. She climbed down and then went inside and upstairs to her little room. As she walked in, her eyes settled on her sword (yes, the same one she had almost cut her leg off with). It glinted seductively in the oncoming daylight. She closed the door and then dropped to her knees in front of the sword, doubling over with tears. What was she to do now? Too many times had her cheeks been stained with the tears that Legolas caused. Too many times had she been in such pain.

She stood up, wiping her tears away. She then grasped the sword and picked it up. It was light and easy to handle. She swished it around a bit and then stabbed the wall and made it stick there. To her horror, she had imagined Legolas standing there.

"I'm going insane," she whispered. "He's making me go insane."

Pulling the blade out of the wall, she thought about how she could make him pay. With every passing second, she could care less and less about his "proving" himself to her.

A slight breeze blew.

"You don't want to go back with me," he whispered close behind her. She whirled away from him, her blade still pointed at him.

"I have not made my decision yet," she said, "And you're certainly not going to be the one to help me make it."

"An elf in a human town," he smirked, "It's almost laughable."

"For once in my life, I am truly happy," she said. "Why do you wish to ruin that?"

"Ruin what?" he laughed at her, "Your supposed happiness? What you feel is independence, freedom. Is that happiness? For you, perhaps it is. But what will happen when that happiness is gone? Who will you turn to when every one of these humans dies around you while you continue to live and maintain the same youthful beauty at all times? Think of what they will do to you in spite of their jealousy. What will you do when the world changes all around you and you are all alone? When all of your kind has left Middle Earth to its own demise and you still stay because you wanted to be "happy"?"

"My decision is my own to make," she growled, still pointing the blade at him.

"Isn't your arm getting tired, little one?" he smiled down at her.

"Fuck no," she almost lunged at him, but restrained herself. Nevertheless, she felt a blade collide her own.

"So you wish to challenge me?" he asked, "You have gone mad."

"You have made me so," she said through gritted teeth.

"What are you going to do, kill me?" he mocked in an arrogant voice, tracing the length of his blade teasingly (and suggestively) with her own. Eden bit her lip. She did not want to fight him. No, this was definitely not what she wanted, but if not this, then what? What did she want?

She moved backwards slightly, but his blade followed.

"Don't want to play anymore?" he asked as her sword clanged to the floor.

"I don't want to talk like this," she said demandingly, "Put your sword down Legolas."

He did so and leaned back once more against the wall.

"You bring me more pain than you could ever know," she said to him quietly. "Your love does not belong to me, even though I tried to claim it as my own. For we each have our own paths. We have our own duties and our own lives. You will marry and produce an heir with your queen. My fall from grace has been too long and I need rest. My heart is still not fully healed and I do not know if it will ever be, but perhaps someday on an ocean blue.........." She trailed off.

"You want me to marry another?" he whispered. And she suddenly saw the tears in his eyes.

He knew.

Yes, now he knew.

"It was impossible a century ago and it still is now," she sighed, "You knew it. You were by far more intelligent than I back then. But I now see what you saw."

He looked away. "I would have been happier if you had killed me with your sword, than by your tongue," he said through silver tears.

"There is no such thing as an end, Legolas," she said, walking over to him, "Only a pause in time."

He leaned down, but she moved her head away.

"Your love would taste bitter in my mouth," she said. "Let us remember each other like this. And do not look for me anymore, Legolas, for you will not find me. Next time, it will be I who will find you."

"But when?" he asked with child-like eyes.

"When I feel like it," she said and smiling, walked out of the room, feeling at peace with herself for the first time in her life.

circa 1000 years later

"My King, when shall we begin?"

No answer.

"My King, surely we should start soon."

No answer.

"Please, my Lord, we must begin soon!"

Cold blue eyes moved to the artisan standing before him.

"Not yet," he said, annoyed.

"Everyone has left, my Lord," the artisan cried, "There are only a few who stay and they stay for you. But please, my Lord, I beg of you. Let me begin."

"I said no!" he roared and walked swiftly out of the room.

He had built himself a palace by the sea. A beautiful fortress-like structure that stood as tall as any building that Mirkwood has ever seen.

The Queen and their child had already sailed to Valinor. There was no love, yet the necessity to marry and produce an heir was fulfilled. He had done his duty, or so he believed. He had redeemed himself in the eyes of his people.

And yet the emptiness would not go away. It lay within him like a great void that grew as time passed.

Because of her.

Because he was waiting for her. Her, who he had not seen in 1000 years. Her, who had stolen his heart and would not give it back. Her, who he has hurt so much and yet loved. And so he stayed. And he waited.

He would not start the building of the ship without her, even if he had to wait another century, even if the world deteriorated more than it already has right before his very eyes.

He stood standing on the balcony, the sky grey and cold.

"If I have to, I will die here," he whispered to the wind.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," a voice said from behind, "I certainly didn't."

He turned as his heart pounded against his chest.

"I told you I would find you," the elf laughed. She was not tall and yet he felt like he was cowering before her. Her eyes held a deep mystery about her and were much wiser than they initially were when he had first seen her more than 1000 years ago.

"My Legolas," she whispered as she approached, her long hair billowing around her. She took his face gently in her hands. "Still beautiful, still mine." Her lips ascended to his and he seemed to melt into her as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet. Her laughter was intoxicating. She blossomed with confidence. She was beautiful and she knew it.

He gently put her down on the floor and taking her hand, led her down to where the artisan sat. He gaped at the beauty that held the King's hand.

Legolas smiled.

"You can begin.".

A/N: End (finally)!! :-D Review please!! I didn't mean for it to end up so angsty so I'm really sorry for that. I hope you all liked this. It was weird to write. My next project will be finishing up the Choose your own adventure story. The new story that I am working on is an LOTR remake of a Bollywood movie. Hehe. You shall see. When I am ready, I will post it, but for now I'm working on the Choose your own adventure and I will try and post it in my info if the story is finished. For now, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed this story and kept me happy with reviews and I hope you enjoy the rest of CYOA and my new story. :)


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